


Charlie Moves In

by hstraven



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Casual Sex, Charmione, Dragons, Eventual Romance, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Kitchen Sex, Medium Burn, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Post-Hogwarts, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2020-01-13 18:29:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 49,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18474628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hstraven/pseuds/hstraven
Summary: “Harry Potter, why can I hear a man singing in our shower?” Hermione stormed into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place.“Hmmm?” A muffled noise came from the open pantry.“I can hear a man singing in our shower!” she repeated while Harry appeared through the doorway, with a bag of flour and a mixing bowl.“Oh that’ll be Charlie.” Harry said, dumping the ingredients on the long wooden table between them.“Charlie? Charlie Weasley?”Hermione has a crush on Charlie Weasley. Charlie moves into her house. She's all of a fluster and she thinks she's going to have to do something about it.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so bad at angst, I'm all about the fluff...one day I may write something moderately serious. Basically I have a crush on Charlie so this is my dream come true!

“Harry Potter, why can I hear a man singing in our shower?” Hermione stormed into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place.  
  
“Hmmm?” A muffled noise came from the open pantry.  
  
“I can hear a man singing in our shower!” she repeated while Harry appeared through the doorway, with a bag of flour and a mixing bowl.  
  
“Oh that’ll be Charlie.” Harry said, dumping the ingredients on the long wooden table between them.  
  
“Charlie? Charlie Weasley?”  
  
“Uh yeah.” She watched as Harry opened more cupboards, he crouched down to rustle around in one. “I told him he could stay here for a bit, you knew he was coming back for a while yeah?”  
  
“Yes I knew that but I didn’t realise our home was being offered to him. Don’t you think that’s something you might have discussed with me first?”  
  
“Where is that bloody...oh forget it, accio yeast.” Hermione glared at him as the yeast flew into his hand and he started laying everything out on the table. “Of course I’d have asked Hermione but its Charlie, he needs somewhere to stay, would you have wanted me to say no?”  
  
Hermione huffed, “Well no, of course not, but you’ve got to admit it’s a bit weird him being here after everything with Ron.”  
  
“Why?” Harry stopped weighing out the flour and looked up at her bemused. “Ginny’s here all the time and that’s fine. Honestly Hermione you worry about this Ron stuff way more than anyone else. No one blames you for ending it!”  
  
“Molly does.”  
  
“Okay, but it’s not like she’s cut you out of her life. She said her peace and that’s it...I really think you’re the only one still holding onto it.”  
  
“It still feels weird...and you should have told me.” Hermione said as she reached for the sieve and held it over the mixing bowl.  
  
“I know and I meant to but there wasn’t much time. Anyway, you like Charlie; I really didn’t think it would be an issue.”  
  
“And it’s not...it’s not. I guess I just wasn’t prepared.” Hermione hoped to stop the blush that threatened to rise up on her face determined not to let this get the better of her. Harry wasn’t to know of her silly crush, no one knew.  
  
She looked up as footsteps padded down the hall and the large figure of Charlie Weasley filled the doorway, he was wearing soft jogging bottoms and a tattered green t-shirt that stretched tight across his shoulders and arms. He was ruffling his hair, still slightly damp from the shower, when he grinned over at Hermione.  
  
“Alright there Hermione.” He walked over and to her surprise wrapped a large hand round her waist and planted a quick kiss on her cheek, the stubble he always sported tickling as he did. There was no fighting the blush now, his hand was warm and she felt it long after he’d pulled away.  
  
“Whatcha making here?” he asked moving over to Harry.  
  
“Bread” Harry beamed up at him, “I think I’m about to crack this rye loaf!”  
  
Hermione was suddenly very aware she hadn’t even said hello and must have been stood gawking at Charlie for the last 30 seconds. He stood with his back to her, chatting to Harry.  
  
It had been a nearly a year since she’d last seen him but he never changed. His body was all freckles and muscles and tattoos; his hair was still long and wavy, not quite enough to tie back but enough to run fingers through and the way it curled up on his neck just above the collar drove Hermione a little crazy. She looked at his broad shoulders and couldn’t help looking further down eying up the most glorious bum she had ever seen, she bit her lip and looked away before she was caught staring.  
  
Charlie chuckled, “Ah well good...quite the baker are you Harry?”  
  
“It’s therapeutic.” Hermione heard herself blurt out and Charlie’s blue eyes sparkled her way.  
  
“Is that right?” he smiled at her leaning back against the counter to give her his full attention.  
  
“Err, yes. Studies show that baking is comforting, especially bread. Something about the process, plus eating comfort food releases endorphins.”  
  
“Hmmm.” Charlie kept his gaze on her in a way that was starting to make her a little breathless. “Endorphins...I’ve always found a pretty good way to keep mine up!” he said with a wink.  
  
Harry laughed loudly hiding the fact that her mind stalled and she had no response to the thought of what Charlie Weasley did to get his endorphins up.  Gods Hermione get it together.  
  
“I’ve...err, if you’ll excuse me I’ll have to go check on Crookshanks.” Without waiting for a reply she walked purposefully out of the kitchen and headed towards the stairs of the old house. She stopped for a moment, resting her hand against the banister and took a long breath in.  
  
She’d had a crush on him since she was a teenager but seriously, who wouldn’t? He’d always been gorgeous; add to that a cool job and an unreasonable amount of charm and anyone could understand why Charlie held onto the heartbreaker reputation. Luckily he wasn’t around that often so it was easy enough to overlook. It wasn’t like she could talk to anyone about it, Ginny was out, obviously and that meant she couldn’t tell Harry either. Even before they were dating she’d have hardly said to Ron that his brother was so good looking he made her turn into a gibbering wreck.  
  
“Hermione!” she heard Charlie calling from down the hall the moment before he spotted her. No getting away now she thought and turned to face him.  
  
“Look, sorry about that. I was only joking but I know it was a bit crass.” He ran a large hand through his hair ruffling the curls. “Guess I’ve been spending too much time around dragon keepers, we aren’t the most civilised bunch.”  
  
Great now he thought she was a prude on top if not being able to string a sentence together.  
  
“Oh no, it’s fine! No, I wasn’t leaving because of that. I really do have to check on Crookshanks. I didn’t realise you were moving in and he can be funny around new people.”  
  
She watched as his blue eyes widened, “Oh shit...did Harry not tell you? I’m sorry Hermione I didn’t realise. I just assumed you knew. It is alright isn’t it? I just didn’t really fancy moving back in with Mum after all these years being on my own. I mean, I love her to bits but you know what she’s like. I really am grateful Harry offered up the room but if it’s not ok with you I can find...”  
  
“No” Hermione burst in, “No...really it’s fine.  
  
“You sure? Because you seem a little...I dunno cagey. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”  
  
“Honestly, it’s fine. I’m glad to have you here.” She reached over to reassure him and put her hand on his forearm. She immediately wished she hadn’t when she felt a hard wall of muscle that she wanted to grip onto forever. She pulled her hand back quickly only to see that cheeky grin of his that made her knees weak.  
  
“Well great. I’m glad to be here truth be told. It’s been a while since I’ve felt like being back home for any length of time. And the new section of the dragon reserve here sounds awesome. You’ve seen the plans right? Isn’t it your department?”  
  
“Er yeah, kind of. I work there but I haven’t really been involved in the dragon side of things.” Hermione admitted.  
  
“I’ll be back and forth to the reserve all the time, you should come along.” He’d moved a little closer to her, resting an arm on the banister.  
  
“Me? Why?” she really had to stop blurting stupid things out. Engage brain Hermione.  
  
Charlie didn’t seem to mind though, “I could use a second opinion. We’ll be living together and working under the same department, seems daft if we don’t put the two together. It would be nice to have someone to bounce ideas off. If you don’t mind that is?”  
  
“Of course not. That’d be good. I’ve been desperate to see it actually but I’m heading up the new Werewolf laws so it’s not really my area. Thanks Charlie.” His name sounded sinfully good on her lips and she wanted to say it again.  
  
“No probs.” He grinned at her again and brushed past heading up the stairs. “I’ll let you get back to seeing to your cat.”  
  
Hermione managed a weak smile as her eyes followed him up the stairs.  
  
She really needed to calm it down. She waited a minute before racing up the stairs and locking herself in her room, she could hear music rumbling next door and guessed Harry had put him in the empty bedroom next to hers. It wasn’t a problem really, the house was huge and it was just her and Harry rattling round in it, there was just the small matter of her infatuation with the man. Something about Charlie Weasley short-circuited her brain and it was becoming hard to ignore.  
  
Since breaking up with Ron, Hermione had gone through a bit of a sexual awakening; she realised she wanted passion, lots of passion and while she had no real interest in a relationship at the moment, sex was quite a different matter. She’d discovered that she rather liked it, the trouble was finding a man who didn’t treat her like a delicate little flower. They all seemed to think they had to act the perfect gentlemen around Hermione Granger, as if she was some prim golden girl. What she really wanted was crazy, passionate, rip your knickers off sex. Charlie Weasley was the epitome of all those things and it was enough to make her throw herself at his feet and beg for him to take her.  
  
However, the sexy Hermione just didn’t seem to come out around Charlie. He’d been home the previous Christmas and it was then she started to realise that the crush she’d previously had on him had progressed into full on lust. She was single and had battled through a couple of disappointing sexual encounters, one of which she’d actually had to stop the man in question and direct him to her clitoris.  
  
She’d taken one look at Charlie and realised that he wouldn’t need any direction at all. Most of the Christmas holiday had been taken up with thoughts of how his calloused fingers would feel between her legs. She was often caught staring at his hands. He’d always made her flustered but it seemed worse since that stay at The Burrow. And there was the slight problem of him being her ex’s brother, the same ex she was cautiously trying to build a friendship with again...and also she was sure that Charlie wouldn’t see her as anymore than that.  
  
 There was no way she could do anything about it, she told herself, even now she was a grown woman. Going after your ex’s brother was surely bad form...but there were a lot of them. Hermione sat on her bed, mindlessly curling her hair round a finger wondering if she actually could get away with doing something about it. No, it probably wouldn’t be right. Although it wasn’t like she wanted to actually date him, he just made her...she shivered, gods he made her want to do all manner of things she’d never had a urge to do with anyone else. He was so big, and he looked hard everywhere, his tattoos peeked out under his clothes and she wanted to see where they led to. She imagined his large hands round her naked waist, hoisting her up and pushing her against a wall...no, stop it Hermione. If you can’t do anything about it then stop thinking about him, she sighed and flopped back on the bed, plagued with images of a strong dragon keeper and what it would be like to have him lying next to her.  
  
 ~~~  
   
The next day Hermione woke early, stupidly early, to avoid bumping into Charlie or having to fight over the bathroom. She’d made tea in her travel mug and apparated straight to work, she really did have a lot to get through anyway. There would be plenty of time to torture herself over the sight of Charlie Weasley.  
  
Last night’s dinner had been a struggle; just her, Harry and Charlie sat round the big table. It should have been nice, it was nice really. Harry hadn’t quite cracked his rye so instead whipped up a focaccia which they had with big bowls of pasta and glasses of red wine. Charlie sat and ate everything, including a second bowl of pasta, chatting good-naturedly to them the whole time. He seemed fascinated with Hermione’s work and wanted to know everything. She thought she managed to answer his questions quite well considering all she could actually think about was stripping off his t-shirt and lying him down on the big oak table while she climbed atop him and...well, her thoughts were not on werewolf rights.  
  
He had her in a spin, he was gorgeous and charming and funny and smart and he seemed genuinely interested in her job. She’d hoped maybe living with him would make her realise that he was actually awful, that he had some disgusting habit or he was a horrible bigot but no. She got to her desk and sighed, thinking of how she tried to relieve some of her frustration last night, imaging big hands trailing over her body and hot lips pleasing her all over as red wavy hair tickled her skin. She’d brought herself to orgasm twice last night, thinking of Charlie Weasley but this morning she felt as frustrated as ever.  
  
Taking a big gulp of tea she grabbed some files and started to work, determined to keep her thoughts off their new house guest at least for the rest of the morning.  
  
 ~~~  
  
Hours had passed before Hermione even looked up from her desk, the office had filled and people were busy. She sat up straight and stretched, realising that her hair had already started to escape from the bun she’d tied it in this morning. She stood up to refresh her tea and retie her hair when she spotted him across the office. There was a bit of a kerfuffle, rolls of parchment flew up in the air and she could hear the squeal of Judy, their office assistant. “Charles Weasley!” Hermione rolled her eyes, Judy treated dragon keepers like celebrities in their own right. She could hear her clearly from over the other side of the office as she gushed. “Oh I can’t believe it, you’re here in our office. Oh I’m such a huge fan, your work with dragons has been outstanding! Would you sign my Horntail?”  
  
Hermione sat back down, her quest for tea could wait. She didn’t want to get caught up in the fan club over there. She heard Charlie’s laugh and scowled down at the files, hating it a little that she felt jealousy flare through her. She tucked the escaped curls behind her ear and carried on working, blocking out the sounds of the office until a shadow fell over her desk.  
  
“Alright there treasure? I’ve been looking for you.” Charlie placed his hands down flat on her desk, leaning over to grin at her. She looked up at him, trying to keep her cool, determined not to act like another one of his fangirls.  
  
“Hi Charlie, I didn’t realise you were coming in today.” She looked back down and picked up her quill, pretending to annotate the work in front of her.  
  
“I’m here for you. I tried to catch you this morning but you must have been up with the lark. Wanted to see if you fancied coming to see the reserve today? I sent an owl to my boss last night, asking if I could bring you along.”  
  
Hermione looked up at him the quill forgotten, “Really?”  
  
“Yeah, said I would didn’t I? So whatcha think, fancy it?”  
  
“Now?” Hermione stood up, forgetting to be cool. She’d dreamed of getting in on this dragon reserve.  
  
Charlie nodded at her, “I’ve checked with your boss, Morris is it? Told him there is no one else I’d rather work with.” At this he unleashed a smile so charming Hermione felt the need to sit down again.  
  
Instead she let out an undignified squeal, not dissimilar to Judy and darted round the desk to hug the gorgeous wizard, propriety be damned. A laugh rumbled through him and his arms wrapped around her as if it was the most natural thing in the world. She felt the heat from his body and realised what she was doing. She quickly stepped out his arms, flushing crimson.  
  
“Ok, so err, how do we get there? Do I need to bring anything?” she looked down at the dull ministry robes, “I’ll have to get changed, we have clothes here for when we’re out in the field, if you don’t mind waiting.”  
  
“Nah, go ahead. I’ll wait here.” Charlie replied, sinking down on the chair opposite her desk and looking around at the office. Hermione left to get changed quickly, excitement coursing through her at the thought of visiting the dragon reserve.  
  
Hermione emerged after changing her clothes. She put on her usual muggle jeans, a chunky knit green jumper and big black combat boots. She’d got her hair back under control again and walked back out to find Charlie. He wasn’t alone. As she got closer she saw Judy perched on her desk right in front of him, robes open so he had a view of her tight white blouse and short skirt. He was looking up at her smiling in his usual cheerful way and Hermione gritted her teeth. Why did he have to be so nice to everyone?  
  
As she got closer she could hear Judy telling Charlie about a new restaurant that had opened in Diagon Alley. She walked over quickly determined to put a stop to that conversation. Charlie’s attention shifted to her as she stood by the desk, trying not to glare at Judy.  
  
“Sorry Judy.” Charlie stood quickly. “Have to be off, this wonderful witch is going to teach me a thing or two about dragons. See you another time.”  
  
Hermione tried not to look too smug as Charlie turned away from Judy to walk her out of the office.  
  
They headed towards the apparition point and Hermione couldn’t stop herself from asking, “Does that always happen? You walk into a room and straight away a girl is asking you out?”  
  
“I wouldn’t say always.” He smiled easily as he replied.  
  
“But often enough?” Hermione pushed.  
  
He shrugged in reply, still smiling, and reached for her hand. She was startled to feel the rough calluses wrap around her own hand but realised they had reached the apparition point and before she could say anything more they’d disappeared with a loud crack.  
  
“It’s about a two mile walk.” Charlie said as soon as they’d arrived. “We didn’t want apparitions happening too close to the reserve, it would mess with the wards.”  
  
Hermione started to follow him as he trekked up along a path over rocky ground. She looked around and saw they were already pretty high up, the valleys of Wales flowing out all around them. It was so quiet that for a moment neither of them said anything, Hermione just enjoyed the peace and the rhythm of their boots scuffing on the path as they walked side by side.  
  
“I’m sure you don’t exactly have a shortage of interest when it comes to wizards.” He spoke up suddenly.  
  
“What?” Hermione said, looking at him in confusion.  
  
“You said I have witches all over me, you must be the same?” Charlie continued, catching her eye. “Hermione Granger, war hero, clever, funny and beautiful to boot. I bet the guys are lining up to date you.”  
  
Hermione wanted to ask if he really thought she was all those things but instead she said, “Hmmm, you’d be surprised.”  
  
“Would I?”  
  
“I’m not exactly beating them off with a stick” she said, thinking she’d be happy with just one guy being all over her right now.  
  
“You’re not seeing anyone then?” he threw out at her, much to her surprise.  
  
“No, no I’m not.” She waited a minute but couldn’t stop herself from saying, “How about you?”  
  
“No love, I’m not seeing anyone.” He grinned at her but didn’t say anymore, neither did she but her heart rate ratcheted up a notch.

  
They were climbing higher and Hermione could feel the thrum of magic as they got closer to the edge of the reserve. To the naked eye there was nothing ahead but more hills but she could sense the wards. Charlie must have caught her looking, “We’re pretty close now. The wards should let us both through, since they’re expecting you.    
  
It felt as though the magic was shimmering around them as Charlie again reached for her hand to pass over the wards and into the reserve.  
  
She looked around almost as if a dragon would leap onto them any moment but all she could see were a few log cabins dotted around and an endless rugged landscape that stretched off beyond.  
  
“This bit is shielded from the Dragons,” Charlie explained, “we can see them but they can’t see or reach us. We have a few bunks here and research cabins. There are a few of these sites dotted all over the reserve but this is one of the new ones.”  
  
Hermione nodded but her eyes were wide as she’d seen a shape flying off in the distance. A thrill went through her at the sight even if it wasn’t the first time she’d seen a dragon up close. She’d ridden on the back of the Gringott’s one for Godric’s sake but still, the sight of them was spectacular. Especially out here where they were looked after and allowed to roam in safety.  
  
“Just one of our little Welsh Green’s over there.” Charlie spoke up next to her. “We’re on one of the newer parts of the reserve so you probably won’t get too many up close, they’re bringing in a few of my Longhorns soon though. This is going to be my division to run while I’m here.”  
  
Hermione watched amazed as the dragon looped in the distance, it looked to be having the time of its life.  
  
“Is anybody else here?” Hermione asked. It seemed so quiet, like a forgotten land.  
  
“Not yet. I’ll be checking out the former employees this week and hopefully hiring a few new ones. They’ve done a great job here but they aren’t as used to the different breeds as we are in Romania. A few of the guys are coming over with the dragons to help me get it up and running, we’ll just be here support them while they get the new dragons settled.”  
  
“So what are you doing here today, can I help?” Hermione looked towards him.  
  
“Actually, it’s my day to catch up on paperwork.” He looked a little sheepishly at her, “I just thought you seemed so keen to see it that I’d bring you up here, I hate being stuck indoors all day.”  
  
“I can see why you’d choose this over being stuck behind a desk. It’s amazing.” She went back to watching the dragon; spiralling downwards looking like it was going to land. “Thanks Charlie.”  
  
“Anytime.” Charlie replied. “Actually, I’d asked your boss if you could be freed up to visit again in a couple of days, hope that’s alright. I’m meeting some of the other workers and they could do with some ideas for equipment in the research cabins. They’ve never been set up with that kind of thing before and I know you have some pretty amazing labs over at the ministry. We could use your professional opinion.”  
  
“I’d love to.” Hermione was thrilled to be asked to help, she’d felt a little looked over when it came to the new dragon reserve plans, she’d gone out of her way and asked to be part of it but they kept her working on the werewolves laws. “Although you know there are others in the office far more experienced with dragons than me.”  
  
“Yeah, but I like you. No offense but some of those ministry workers are pompous twats, think they know everything about dragons without even setting foot on a reserve.”  
  
Hermione grinned at that, “Unfortunately I’ve come across a few of them.”  
  
They stayed on the reserve for another hour while Charlie showed her round; she was gradually finding it easier to talk to him although it still made her heart beat wildly whenever he came into her personal space. He’d apparated them back to the ministry before saying good bye with another kiss on her cheek and she went back to work in a bit of a daze, her mind flitting between dragons and Charlie.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I had most of this written BUT I then decided to change something early on in the story. I'm still hoping to get a chapter out a week but bear with me if I don't. I am loving writing Charlie and Hermione though, they are my new favourite!

Hermione arrived back home just as Harry was setting dinner on the table; she really was spoilt living with this boy and his new found love of cooking. Tonight was beef stew and dumplings, no bread but she could smell the apple crumble warming in the oven for dessert. Ginny was setting the table for four.

“Charlie will be back any minute too.” She said to Hermione, giving her a quick hug before flicking her wand to send the cutlery floating on to the table. “I’m so glad he’s moved in here, Mum would have driven us all mad if he was back in the burrow. She never stops nagging him.”

Ginny hadn’t officially moved into Grimmauld Place but she was there most of the time in between Quidditch training. She technically still lived at home but only stayed there a couple of nights a week. She said it was just to keep her mum happy but Hermione knew she was close to Molly and enjoyed the time with her, especially now they’d all flown the nest.

“She’s already started on at me to check that he’s alright living here, make sure he’s eating and all that. Oh and you’re all invited for Sunday dinner, just a little welcome home party for him which I’m sure he’ll be thrilled about.” Ginny rolled her eyes as she spoke.

“Oh I don’t know Gin, I’m pretty busy at work.” Hermione started, thinking of the last Sunday dinner her and Ron went to together which was more than a little awkward.

“Don’t even start Hermione, you’re coming and that’s that. It’s been too long for you both to still be trying to avoid each other. You’re allowed to move on with your life and Ron will just have to cope, he only starts moping when he sees you. Trust me, he’s doing just fine on his own.” She huffed out a breath in annoyance.

They all heard the front door go and it wasn’t long before Charlie was striding into the kitchen. Ginny let out a scream and ran up to hug him. Charlie picked her up spinning her round the kitchen laughing, “Good to see you Gin.”

Hermione smiled, he was so cute with his family. He put Ginny down and caught Hermione’s eye winking at her before looking around the kitchen. “Damn something smells good in here, Harry you could give Mum a run for her money.”

“Gods Charlie, don’t go saying things like that out loud.” Ginny said, “I mentioned to her that Harry was becoming quite the cook and she started plying me with food. We had a six course dinner! Poor Dad didn’t know what to do with it all.”

They all started to settle around the large oak table, Harry and Ginny always sat next to each other, Hermione on the opposite side so Charlie had taken up a space next to her. He gave her shoulder a squeeze as he went past her to sit down. Hermione glanced up and saw Ginny watching them, damn witch never missed a trick. Hermione tried to look innocent but it was ruined slightly by Charlie wrapping a massive arm over her shoulder “I took Hermione to see the dragon reserve today, it was incredible wasn’t it treasure?” Harry was dishing up the stew into warm bowls but Ginny was watching Hermione carefully, something sparking in her eyes.

“It was amazing.” She daren’t look over at him knowing that her expression would give her away. Instead she filled their glasses with red wine. “We only saw a Common Welsh but still, the new areas of the site look brilliant.” Charlie had mercifully removed his arm to start eating.

“I didn’t realise you were working on it Hermione.” Ginny said smiling sweetly.

“Oh well no, I’m not, not officially anyway but Charlie invited me along and you know I’ve been curious about it.”

“Curious!” Harry laughed out, “It was all you could talk about a couple of months back, you were desperate to get on that team.”

She felt Charlie’s attention shift to her, “Well, I did fancy a bit of a change yes.”

“You never said Hermione.” Charlie was looking at her intently.

Hermione shrugged, “Like I said today, they felt that others in the office were more experienced. I did throw my hat in the ring though.”

“I’m even more glad I’ve asked you to help out now.”

“Oh is Hermione working with you now?” Ginny interrupted again, casually sipping her wine but not taking her eyes off Hermione.

“Yeah, I’ve asked her to visit the reserve again and help me out with a couple of things. I know we can’t go wrong with our Hermione, smartest witch I know.”

Hermione was sure her cheeks were aflame now and she chanced a glance up and Ginny who was looking at her eyebrows raised, “She certainly is...”

Hermione had no idea what was tipping Ginny off, Charlie was this familiar with everyone wasn’t he? She hadn’t said anything to give herself away, all fantasies were under control...even when Charlie’s warm leg kept brushing up against hers under the table.

“So Charlie, Sunday dinner at Mums this weekend and she isn’t taking no for an answer.” Ginny said, a pointed look at Hermione.

A pained expression went across Charlie’s face, “Err, actually Gin…”

“Oh no Charlie.” Ginny rounded on him while Hermione and Harry shared a knowing look, Charlie wouldn’t be getting out of this one that easily. “Mum will go spare if you’re not there, you haven’t even been to see her yet!”

Charlie winced, “I know but I haven’t had much time, I did send her an owl...it’s not like she’s used to seeing me regularly Ginny.”

“SO what great excuse have you got for missing this Sunday” Ginny said with a huff.

“I’m working” Charlie said, arms folded ready for the fight.

“Charlie that isn’t an excuse, you’ve been working all bloody week.”

Harry and Hermione kept their heads down quietly eating; it was only a matter of time before one of them got called upon for their opinion. Hermione risked reaching for her glass and took a big gulp of wine. It was a mistake.

“Hermione” Ginny rounded on her, eyes flashing, “You said the reserve is looking good, do you think they can spare this numpty for a couple of hours?”

Hermione looked between the brother and sister, no intention of answering Ginny’s question. She heard Harry try to cover a laugh. “Ginny, I’m not answering that. Charlie’s a grown man he can do what he likes.”

“I knew you’d take his side!” Ginny fired at her.

“Hey! Don’t be dragging Hermione into this.” Charlie erupted before Hermione could say anymore, “I’m telling you I need to work this weekend and that’s that. I’ve already committed to staying over at the reserve and I’m not letting them down now. In Romania I’m working round the clock and I don’t have to explain it to anyone so I’m not gonna start doing it here! The Sunday dinner will have to wait till next week. I will speak to mum and sort it. End of Ginny.” They both glared at each other across the table.

Ginny always had a fiery temper but Charlie was usually pretty chilled, he didn’t look like he was going to back down on this though. Hermione saw Harry look up and glance nervously between the pair of them. They both waited.

Suddenly Ginny looked away and swished her hair over her shoulder, “Whatever Charlie, as long as you sort it with Mum I don’t care. Do what you want.” She tucked into her food again and Hermione and Harry let out twin sighs of relief.

After that the conversation flowed, in fact Ginny and Charlie acted as if nothing had happened. Hermione hoped Ginny had forgotten about her suspicions from the start of the meal. She should have known better. Hermione finished up her last spoonful of crumble and custard. Her spoon had barely hit the bowl when Ginny announced, “Right boys, clear up duty for you two. Me and Hermione need a catch up” she grabbed another bottle of wine, both their glasses and shooed Hermione out of the room before she could complain.

They went upstairs to the smaller sitting room, a swish of her wand and Ginny had the fire crackling. She sat down in an armchair nearby and started refilling their glasses.

“So, Ms Granger...anything you want to tell me?” she started off, voice all innocent.

Hermione very nearly crumbled but thought she should put up a bit of a fight, “I don’t know what you’re talking about Gin, you were being weird at dinner, what’s going on with you?”

“With me?” Ginny fixed her with quite a scary stare, “Oh no, we’re not playing this, we won’t have long before the boys come in. What’s going on with you and Charlie?”

“Ginny!” Hermione hissed, slamming the door shut with a flick of her wand, “Keep your voice down.”

“Oh, so there is something going on?”

“No, nothing at all, nothing has happened.” Hermione replied, trying desperately to hold her nerve.

“But you want it to?”

“Why...Ginny? Hermione sighed in exasperation. “How...how would you even know that?”

“Come on you daft witch, I know you so well! How long have you been telling me you want someone who turns your world upside down then I catch you looking all gooey eyed at him as soon as he comes in. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you look at a bloke like that. Plus he’s all over you...keeps touching you and calling you treasure.”

“Ginny, you know he’s always been like that, he flirts with everyone.” Hermione said, automatically trying to downplay this.

“No...he flirts when he wants something to happen. He’d never lead anyone on, bloody hell Hermione, you really do fancy him don’t you?”

“Ginny would you keep your voice down!” Hermione whispered angrily.

“Oh I don’t think I will, not unless you fess up.” Ginny smiled smugly at her. Hermione sighed, sinking onto the sofa across from her.

“Fine.” She cast a muffliato at the door and started talking. “I had a bit of a teenage crush on him” Ginny rolled her eyes as if that much was obvious. “He’d rock up at The Burrow all tattooed talking about dragons and I used to think he was so cool! He was always so nice to me. Honestly, it was just a teenage infatuation and I didn’t see him often enough to think anymore of it. Then as I grew up, I started to notice other things about him. Last Christmas especially I realised that he...he’s, bloody hell Ginny do you really want to hear this?”

“Spit it out Hermione.” Ginny urged.

“He’s hot alright, ridiculously hot! Just looking at him turns my knees to jelly.” Hermione blurted out.

Ginny started laughing, “Trust me, that’s not the first time I’ve heard that about Charlie. Practically everyone has that reaction to him. It’s the dragon thing I’m sure.”

“Yes I know,” Hermione said, trying not to look too put out. “That’s why it was never a big deal really...I mean at Christmas I sort of noticed the teenage crush had moved on to something more...er, adult. But still, I didn’t think I’d be living with the guy, I thought my dragon keeper fantasies were safe in my own head. But now he’s moved in and he’s here, being so nice and good looking and damn charming! He’s all I can think about Gin and it’s driving me mad.”

“Why? You’re both adults.” Ginny sipped her wine.

“Are you seriously suggesting I do something about it? I don’t think he’d ever see me the way I see him.”

“Oh you’d be surprised! I know it seems like he’s flirting with everyone but he isn’t, he’s just nice to a hell of a lot of people. His flirting is different, I’ve seen him in action, he goes out of his way to sneak compliments into the conversation and starts casually touching, waiting to see what reaction it gets. He barely takes his eyes from a witch when he likes her, or a wizard for that matter. Who do you think I learnt it all from?”

“Do you think, gods I can’t believe I’m having this conversation with you but...do you think he likes me?”

Ginny smiled broadly, “Only one way to find out isn’t there?”

“What about Ron?”

“Urgh, Hermione will you shut up about Ron, you only dated for six months and we could all see that it wasn’t right. Even Ron knows that really. Look, I assume your stance on boyfriends is still in place and you aren’t looking for anything too serious?” Hermione nodded, “Okay, so you know Charlie isn’t really the relationship kind of guy, this could be perfect for you...a bit of fun. Now having said all that I want absolutely none of the details, none at all...you can give me a code word like ‘Project Dragon is go’ and that’s the last I want to hear about your sex life when it concerns my brother...again.” she cackled loudly seeing Hermione’s horror.

Suddenly they heard Harry outside the door, “What have you done to his door and why have you can I hear buzzing? What are you two up to in there?”

Ginny removed the charms calling out “Nothing dear.” and opened the door to Harry and Charlie.

The boys came into to room, looking suspiciously at the two women, casually sipping their wine.

“What’s that all about?” Harry was looking between the two of them.

“Like Ginny said, it’s nothing, nothing for you to worry about anyway.” Hermione answered him, keeping her eyes away from Charlie who she could tell was watching her.

“Not to worry, Ginny will tell me later anyway.” Harry said with a smirk.

Hermione whipped her head to Ginny, Harry would never keep quiet if he found out. Ginny just snorted, “You wish Harry Potter. A girl is allowed some secrets.”

Outside the room Hermione could hear Crookshanks coming down the stairs, it sounded as if a horse were galloping around the house but he appeared at the door as if he were the most dainty creature there was.

“Bloody hell, was that the cat?!” Charlie exclaimed, “He couldn’t sneak up on you could he?”

Hermione laughed, “He can actually, when he chooses. He just likes to make a grand entrance.”

Crookshanks rubbed up against her legs before doing a lap of the room, showing off his gleaming ginger fur. He wandered over to the fireplace and looked like he was about to curl up when he spotted Charlie across the room, he gazed over at him with an odd look. Charlie held the stare with a raised eyebrow. Hermione looked between them and was about to tell Charlie that challenging Crookshanks was never a good idea when the big cat trotted over to him, jumped on his knee and curled right up, purring. Charlie laughed but the others looked on in shock.

“What?” Charlie said, seeing the looks in their faces.

“What have you done to that beast?” Harry said, “He never does that with me and I live with him!”

“Haha, nothing.” Charlie stroked Crookshanks and the purr became a loud rumble. “Guess he’s taken a shine to me.”

~~~

The next couple of days passed without incident, Hermione didn’t see all that much of Charlie which is why she kept telling herself she had yet to make a move. Ginny was constantly teasing her, “No movement on Project Dragon? Where’s that feisty minx we’ve all come to know and love? Stop acting so tame.”

Hermione knew Ginny was right, she wasn’t usually this shy at coming forward but she’d had a few knocks these last few months. Plus Charlie was totally different, he was experienced and had been with countless women and a few men if Ginny was to be believed. It was almost as if she’d been playing with the other boys and Charlie was the real deal. She didn’t want to ruin the friendship they were starting to build but at the same time she couldn’t put up with much more of the sexual tension that ran under everything they did together. She just needed an in and then she could show him just how sexy she could really be.

Charlie had finally asked her back to the reserve on Thursday, she’d cleared it with Morris to have to whole day there so they’d be apparating together from Grimmauld Place. Hermione dressed carefully that morning. She could hear Charlie singing again in the shower as she put on the same jeans and combat boots she’d had on the other day but went for a blush pink knitted jumper and left her curls down and wild.

They arrived at the site just after nine and all was quiet.

“Think we’ll have a little while before the rest of the crew turn up, fancy a brew?” Charlie said, heading towards one of the cabins.

“Yes please.” She called out following him towards the cabin but sitting down on the bench outside to look out over the hills. A couple of Welsh Greens were flying through the sky together, diving and then pulling up. She got lost watching their movements and didn’t hear Charlie until he sat down next to her, passing her a large enamel mug.

“Thanks” she said, wrapping her fingers around the cup. “It must be amazing to live with these creatures, for this to be your life day in day out.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty special. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.” Charlie admitted and she could see him watching the dragons with keen fascination, even after all these years.

He looked just about perfect out here in the hills, like this was where he was always meant to be. The breeze ruffled though his hair and she longed to reach out and run her fingers through it. She looked down his muscled arms; he wore only a t-shirt despite the cool October air, the snout of a dragon tattoo peeked out from the hem on his arm, puffing smoke along the freckly skin. She watched as it flew along his arm, performing loops just like the ones in the sky.

“She likes being in the open just as much as I do” he said, smiling when he saw Hermione watching it. He put down his mug and rolled up his sleeve a little so she could see the way it travelled up and down his arm. The other arm was covered in a myriad of tattoos; flowers and flames along with magical creatures but it didn’t move. This arm was plain except for the dragon. She looked at Charlie, dying to reach out and touch it. He must have read the question in her eyes as he nodded. She reached over and traced the dragon, her finger running spirals on his arm as she followed its path. The dragon took no notice of her and just carried swirling around the thick muscle of Charlie’s bicep. He chuckled and Hermione smiled up at him, realising she was incredibly close to him now. His skin felt scorching under her wandering fingers and his eyes sparkled at her as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. “Something you want to ask?”

“Where are the others?” Hermione breathed out, part of her wishing to have more of his glorious body unveiled and part of her knowing she could hardly resist him if she saw more.

“Sally here stays on this arm, there’s a big old girl on my back, a phoenix on my thigh and a drunken mistake somewhere else.” He said with a cheeky wink.

Hermione laughed, feeling a bit warm at the thought of where that mistake was. “Oh! You aren’t going to tell me what it is?”

He shook his head, “Not right now, I’ll show you Brenda though!” Before she could stop him he was pulling his t- shirt over his head and Hermione felt like all the breath had left her lungs. She was sure her mouth was watering at the vision of his taut stomach with a trail of dark red hair leading down below his belt. She was transfixed but then he’d turned his back to her and she caught sight of the most glorious, dazzling red dragon. The colours of her seemed to change, shimmering into oranges and purples as she opened her wings, flapping them slowly as if stretching them out in the sudden sunlight. She was beautiful and not just because of the man she adorned.

“Wow, she’s incredible...Brenda did you call her?” Hermione chuckled at that.

“Yeah, she was the first Dragon to take me out in Romania. I was in the medical lodge for a week after a run in with her. We did alright in the end though.”

Hermione couldn’t stop herself from reaching out and running her hand along the tattoo, along Charlie’s soft, warm skin. The dragon seemed to preen and she thought she heard Charlie make a rough noise. He turned slightly to look at her, an expression on his face that made her knees weak. He wasn’t smiling like usual; he just watched her with intense eyes. She was seconds away from doing something more than just touching him when she heard a flare of magic behind her.

They both looked back to see two people shimmering through the wards. Charlie had his t-shirt back on in a flash. He smiled cheekily at Hermione and walked off to meet the approaching pair.

Hermione willed her legs to follow him, trying to bring her breathing back under control. Charlie was smiling easily, no sign of what had just passed between them as he introduced her to Delta and Owain, two of the reserve workers who were being transferred over to Charlie’s part of the site. Delta was tall and looked strong, she had thick black hair tied back in a braid and she smiled widely at Hermione when they were introduced. Owain was quiet, his brown hair was cropped close to his head but he had warm brown eyes which looked friendly even when he wasn’t speaking. Hermione liked them both straight away. After a bit of a chat the girls set off to take inventory while the boys started work on the bunk rooms.

“Charlie said you’d be coming out to take a look around.” Delta said as her and Hermione looked around one of the cabins that was going to be the lab. “You’re a vast improvement on the usual ministry old boys we get out here, they show up in their pristine work robes then complain when they get covered in mud and dirt.” She rolled her eyes.

Hermione chuckled, “There are way too many of them where I work, it is changing though...slowly. Honestly I’m just so glad Charlie keeps asking me up here, I’ve been dying to see what you all do.”

“You must be doing something right, Charlie is notoriously fussy about who he works with. Me and Owain did our initial training with him out in Romania which I’m sure is the only reason he picked us. He’ll only work with the best...and the best are trained by him.” Delta said this so matter of factly. “How do you know him anyway, have you worked together before?”

“Err, no, not really. I’m a friend of the family so I’ve known him for years.”

“Of course, sorry...I knew that, not that I pay much attention to the Daily Prophet gossip but you know, you three held the headlines for a while.” Delta was busy opening cupboards and ticking off what she found. “Can’t have ended that badly between you and Ron though and Charlie obviously thinks a lot of you.”

Hermione was quiet, not sure what to say to that...gods this witch didn’t hold back. Delta came out of the cupboard and looked at Hermione realising she’d bothered her.

“Oh sorry, sometimes I just speak without thinking. That’s your private life, sorry. Gods, I’m always getting in trouble for this.” Delta came over and she did seem genuinely sorry. “Let’s start over. Hermione, we’re really happy to have you here, let me show you round our state of the art lab.” She threw out an arm gesturing to the mostly empty cabin with a smile and Hermione laughed. The tension was broken and Delta put an arm around her, “Come on, I’ll make a cuppa and we can start making a list of the equipment we think we’ll need.”

They spent the rest of the day looking through the log cabins. After that initial awkward moment Delta and Hermione got on like a house on fire. Delta was heading up the breeding programme and she was interested to hear Hermione’s opinions on what kind of research equipment they had in the labs back at the ministry. This was their chance to really update the Welsh reserve; she wanted the best for her dragons.

It was late by the time they got back to Grimmauld Place. She hadn’t seen all that much of Charlie but as they apparated home together Hermione couldn’t keep the grin off her face. She didn’t often get a chance to work out in the field and she’d forgotten how much she loved being hands on. She let them both into the house, sitting down of the stairs in the hallway to undo her boots. “Today was great Charlie, I had so much fun.”

“Glad you liked it treasure, it’s certainly brought a bit of colour to you cheeks. Does you no good stuck behind that desk for too long.”

“I know, I just get so caught up in getting the paperwork right I forget what it’s like to get out of the office, I loved today though. Think I’ll try to do it more often.” Hermione said. She was buzzing despite the long day. It was incredible to think that Charlie did this everyday. She finally got her boots off, going back to ministry robes and proper shoes would be annoying tomorrow.

“Well I’d love to have you on site again. How about popping over at the weekend, you could even stay if you wanted?”

”Stay overnight?” Hermione heard herself squeak.

“Yeah, I mean, I know it’s your weekend and all but if you haven’t got any other plans...” he trailed off and scratched at the back of his neck. “The bunk rooms are up to scratch after today. I know they aren’t luxurious or anything, I understand if you don’t fancy it.”

“No!” Hermione replied quickly, a little too loudly. “I’d love that, really.”

For a moment they just stood grinning at each other. Hermione felt like this could be it, the moment she made a move. Charlie’s blue eyes seemed to draw her in and she started to believe he may want her too. She opened her mouth to say something, anything. At the precise moment she summoned up the nerve to use words Harry appeared from the kitchen.

“Thought I heard you two, did you not hear me calling? Tea is ready, come on, it’ll getting cold.” Harry walked back to the kitchen as quickly as he’d appeared but the spell was broken.

“After you.” Charlie said, gesturing with his hand.

Hermione walked towards the kitchen, cursing Harry Potter’s impeccable timing.


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all your lovely comments and kudos on this. I'm having so much fun writing it so I'm glad people are enjoying reading it!

She didn’t see Charlie at all on Friday and work seemed particularly dreary after her day out in the Welsh hills. She wondered if he’d regularly stay on site now the bunk cabins were finished. If she was honest with herself, only the thought of spending the weekend there, spending the weekend with him was getting her through this long day. They usually went to the pub on a Friday night but Ginny was busy with training and Hermione cried off too, she wanted an early night.

Saturday morning she was awake before her wand buzzed, she’d already packed a bag to take with her and she spent a restless few hours around the house waiting for the time she’d agreed to apparate to the reserve. Her stomach tingled with a mixture of nerves and excitement. While she was fairly certain nothing would happen between them while he was technically at work that message hadn’t seemed to spread to the rest of her body.

As the green rolling hills came into view she looked around expecting to see Charlie waiting for her. Instead she saw Delta, who gave her a big wave and was smiling enough to ward off the disappointment that threatened when it wasn’t Charlie meeting her.

“Hey!” Delta called out to her, coming closer, “Charlie’s been called off to another site on the reserve so I said I’d meet you. Not that it’s hard to find but you know, he didn’t want you getting lost.”

“Thanks” Hermione said, giving the witch a quick hug, “So, you’ll be the one keeping me busy today?” They started walking up the stony path together. Her images of a romantic weekend with a burly dragon keeper were slightly shattered. She didn’t want to admit how much she’d been hoping it would just be the two of them.

“Yep, I’ve got a parchment full of jobs to get through. How are you at potions? The ingredients have arrived and they need organising and put in the cupboards in some kind of sensible order. I’ve always been rubbish at getting it right, or so I’ve been told!” 

“I might be a bit rusty but I’ll give it a go.” Hermione said, grateful to be kept busy now she knew Charlie wasn’t around.

“Cool, I’ll set you up restocking then. You’ll have a blast.”

Hermione couldn’t help but return Delta’s smile, a weekend on a dragon reserve was still special, whether her dragon keeper was here or not. Repeat until you believe it Hermione she thought.

Hermione worked all day, once she got into the rhythm of it her potions knowledge came back to her easily. She organised it how she’d like to find it if she was working there and hoped that would be good enough. Delta popped in now and again with a mug of tea but other than that she worked flat out. Hours passed and she only stopped when she heard a shout from outside the cabin.

“Hermione” Charlie’s voiced called out a second before the door opened, “get out here treasure, come and see this”

Hermione followed him out of the cabin and on up to the sites wards overlooking the reserve. For once her gaze didn’t stick on Charlie. She gasped as she spotted the two massive dragons sat right by the perimeter. They were sniffing at the magical wards, purple eyes glowing with curiosity. They were bigger than the Welsh Greens and seemed all hard scales and rough skin. Their shiny armour gleamed as they strode up and down, big talons sinking into the grass beneath their feet.

Delta was stood close by, grinning at the creatures. “Hebridean Blacks” she said to Hermione, “they aren’t ours, they must have just been pulled in by the magic.” She checked her watch. “I’d best go log the sighting.”

“Does this happen a lot then?” Hermione asked.

“Happened all the time out in Romania.” Charlie said, moving closer to the wards, “Wild dragons smell the magic and get curious. These two are beauties.”

He was right up against the ward now, she knew the dragons couldn’t see them but right now Charlie was stood with about a foot of space in between him and the dragons. One of them snarled at the shield of magic and snorted against the barrier. Charlie was right, they were beautiful. All their movements seemed graceful; one stretched its neck out, snaking upwards, as if it could reach over the wall of magic. Hermione couldn’t help herself; she started walking closer.

As she got next to him, Charlie reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her close. She could smell the fresh air and pine trees on his skin, he always smelt deliciously of the outdoors. 

“Aren’t they amazing?” He looked down at her, “I’m so glad you got to see them.”

His hand squeezed hers tighter as they stood together, silently watching the pair of dragons. One of them snorted again, flicking its tail and turned away. As if it was a signal to its partner the other followed and they set off away from the site, letting their spiny wings spread wide as they prepared to fly. They watched as the pair took to the skies in tandem, it seemed impossible that a beast that size could get off the ground but they did it with surprising ease. Hermione watched with awe as they headed off over the reserve, giant black shapes in the sky. 

“Gods, I think I’m in the wrong job.” Hermione said, nearly breathless with wonder.

“Haha, believe me not everyone has that reaction to seeing a dragon up close.” Charlie said, he’d pulled his hand away now the dragons had gone and they started walking back towards the cabins. “Although I do think you’re wasted at that desk job.”

“I do like it you know, it’s just not quite the same as this! I’m trying to do some good, if I wasn’t there who would be doing it?” 

“I get that, I’m just saying there might be more out there for you. You’re still young, you could do anything you wanted Hermione.” He knocked into her shoulder as they walked, “Not that it’s any of my business.”

Hermione laughed, “You’re the one who keeps inviting me here! This has been the most fun I’ve had in months.”

“Yeah? I like you being here you know, I don’t ask just anyone onto my reserve.” The way he said it felt like he could be joking but Hermione wasn’t sure he was. 

“I’m shocked!” Hermione said with mock surprise, “I thought this was how you got all those witches to fall for you.”

He laughed loudly, “Funnily enough working with overgrown, fire breathing, lizards isn’t on most people’s list of turn-ons. Good to know it’s on yours though” he said with a cheeky wink. 

Hermione’s heart was racing but she managed to quip back to him, “You should be so lucky.”

He laughed again but surprise flashed through his eyes, “Don’t I know it.” She felt like she’d forgotten how to breathe. “Anyway, why don’t you get the fire pit going and I’ll make a start on tea. I’m absolutely starving.”

She frowned at the sudden change in conversation but looked ahead and saw Delta waving to him up ahead. Hermione watched him walk off to the kitchens, the muscles flexing in his back as he went. She could be around him without constantly blushing now but Merlin, he looked so good it hurt. Maybe spending the night here wasn’t such a good idea, she was actually torturing herself. Nothing would ever happen with Delta around, she could hardly sneak into his bunk in the night but something about seeing him on the reserve made him seem all the more attractive. He always had an easy confidence about him but here his Charlie-ness was more obvious. It was damn sexy.

The evening on the site wasn’t quite as torturous as Hermione had imagined. As long as she kept her eyes off Charlie’s muscles, she kept her yearning in check. Him and Delta were both easy to be around, they sat around the crackling fire as it went dark each swapping tales of dragon attacks. Delta had just finished a particularly energetic re-enactment of a run in with a Chinese fireball that had them all laughing.

“I hope we’re not boring you Hermione.” Delta said, sitting back down on a large log next to the fire.

“No! How could anyone be bored by this?” Hermione held her hands up to the fire, stealing some of its warmth.

“When you work on a reserve dragons are your life, people soon get fed up of hearing yet another dragon story. Truth is we don’t have time for much else.”

Charlie was rustling in a bag next to him, “That’s true, people who don’t work on the reserves just don’t get it, all our time is taken up with these ridiculous beasts.” He revealed a bottle of fire whiskey, “Anyone fancy a nightcap?”

“Ah, I best go and do the last flyover around the reserve first. Save one for me yeah?” Delta stood up as Charlie nodded, producing a couple of enamel mugs.

“Hermione?” He asked, holding a mug out in her direction.

“Please.” she took the mug off him and watched Delta grab a broom and walk out into the mounting darkness. Violet light was just visible on the horizon signalling that soon they sky would be black. 

Charlie moved to sit next to her, adding a glug of fire whiskey to her mug before doing the same to his. Hermione sipped at it, feeling it warm her from the inside out, she hummed.

Charlie let out a low laugh, “I feel like I’m seeing the real Hermione Granger when you’re up here.”

“What do you mean?” She looked at him but he was staring into the fire, smiling gently.

“I dunno, you just seem yourself up here...happy.”

“I guess I’ll take that as a compliment.” She replied. “You seem happy here too...for a guy who never wanted to come home before.”

“I’ve got good company this time though.” He nudged her arm with his elbow making her smile. 

“Likewise.” she said quietly.

They sat silently for a moment and Hermione tilted her head back to look at the appearing stars. They were so bright out here it was as if the universe was reaching out for them. She wondered what he was thinking about. She still struggled to see the difference between his flirting and just plain old friendly Charlie. 

“I’ll be staying on site a bit more now our bunks are sorted, at least until the new dragons are settled.” Charlie said.

Hermione’s stomach dropped, she’d known that would happen but she’d gotten so used to having him around. She was becoming addicted to his easy smiles and brilliant eyes. “Oh. Of course, I mean, you live on site in Romania don’t you?”

“Yeah, most of us do over there but I must admit I was getting used to the home comforts. I don’t think I’ll manage too many nights here thinking of you all sat around eating one of Harry’s meals back at Grimmauld.”

“I don’t know, I think the fire cooked sausages have a certain charm.” 

“Haha, they’re a dragon reserve speciality!” 

They fell into silence again. It wasn’t quite awkward, Hermione didn’t mind sitting there quietly next to him, but it wasn’t quite comfortable either. It was more like the things she wasn’t saying to him were getting bigger during the gaps in conversation. Things like, ‘You’re the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen’ and ‘You smell so good’ and ‘Shut up and kiss me already.’ One more mug of fire whiskey and she’d be in danger of blurting them out whether Delta was there or not. 

As if on cue she heard the wards hiss and turned to see Delta coming towards them, “All fine out there, as usual. Bet we won’t be saying that in a few weeks when the other breeds come in! Now how about that drink?” She flung the broomstick down and plonked on a log. 

“Actually, I’m going to call it a night.” Hermione said, getting up and stretching. Trying to figure Charlie out was making her head hurt. “See you both in the morning.”

“Night Hermione, thanks for all your help today.” Delta smiled at her before grabbing the bottle of fire whiskey.

“Goodnight treasure.” Charlie said, voice low. She glanced at him and his eyes burnt into hers. She walked away and felt him watching each and every step.

~~~

It was Thursday morning and Hermione was dashing to work. She hadn’t seen Charlie all week, not since last Sunday morning when he’d walked her to the apparition point and given her a lingering hug. All weekend it had felt like he’d do something cute and flirty and then immediately back off as if he didn’t want her to get the wrong idea. She didn’t know what to think.

Since then they’d kept missing each other, she had a late meeting Tuesday when he’d been around for tea and although he’d slept in his room last night he must have come in late and left early. She couldn’t remember when she’d ever been so fixated on a man before. She’d nearly crept into his room this morning just to remind herself of his scent, it was madness...utter madness. 

She was busy enough in work though, it was almost enough to keep her mind off him. Morris wanted an update on her new drafts for the werewolf laws so she was making sure she had all her research in place to back everything up. She’d gotten all her files in order by lunchtime which left her sat at her desk, staring into space and plotting how she could stay up late enough to catch Charlie on his way home. She was wondering what excuse she could come up with for casually sitting up in the living room until gone midnight. 

Thankfully Ginny came and found her before she got too lost in her thoughts, suggesting they go out for a sandwich on her lunch break. They visited a cute little cafe not far from the Ministry in Muggle London. They’d discovered it not long after Hermione started working there and it had become a favourite; freshly made sandwiches alongside giant, homemade slabs of cake. As a bonus they rarely were bothered by anyone from the Wizarding world so it had become the perfect place to go.

“So still no movement with Project Dragon then?” Ginny said just as Hermione bit into her sandwich. Hermione rolled her eyes as the red head chuckled.

“You already know the answer to that, he’s barely been home all week has he?” Hermione said, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

“I know, it’s just you’re looking particularly radiant at the moment, I thought you might have been sneaking off to the reserve again.” Ginny stirred the pot of tea on the table, peering inside to make sure it had brewed for long enough.

“I didn’t sneak, I left you a note.” Hermione hadn’t bothered telling Harry and Ginny before she’d left at the weekend, she didn’t want any wicked looks from Ginny and leaving a note meant she could avoid all that, or so she’d hoped.

Ginny was looking at her, an eyebrow raised.

“Nothing’s happened yet Ginny! Stop pestering me.” Hermione snapped, ignoring her friend and spooning an extra dollop of coleslaw on her sandwich. 

“Obviously, you certainly wouldn’t be this irritable if you’d been laid. Although you did say ‘nothing’s happened yet’, soooo…he’s not done anything to put you off over the last few days?” Ginny had poured the tea and now started adding crisps to her cheese sandwich, smashing the top layer of bread down to crunch them all in. 

Hermione sighed, “No, I almost wish he had. Sometimes it seems like he feels the same way then neither of us takes it any further. I don’t know how much more I can take to be honest. I think I’m just going to snap and jump him.”

“Please Hermione, he is still my brother.” Ginny said, wrinkling her nose. 

“And here I thought you had no limit.” Hermione said with a wry laugh. 

“I think we all learnt that I do after that time you tried light bondage on Ron.” Ginny shuddered.

“The less said about that the better.” 

“Agreed.” Ginny said, “But, awkward sex chats aside, I do think you need to make the first move with Charlie. He’s a confident guy but even he’s not going to risk hitting on his little brothers ex. Not without some sign that you’re interested anyway.”

“You’re probably right. We have a laugh together and I feel like we’re both flirting, I just don’t know how to move it on from that. What kind of sign do you think he needs?” 

“How about wearing your ‘I heart Charlie’ sandwich board?” Ginny replied quickly with a grin.

“Very funny. Maybe I’ll just take a leaf out of your book and stick my tongue down his throat in front of a room full of people. That ought to get the message across.”

“It worked didn’t it?” Ginny said with a laugh, Hermione chuckled at her. “Charlie isn’t quite as oblivious as Harry was, I think you can go slightly more subtle.”

“Gods, I hope so!” Hermione exclaimed, “Getting him alone is half the battle, it’s not like I want to ask him out on a date. I desperately wanted to say something at the weekend but then we were on site, with his colleague. I just need to find the right moment. I think once it gets going we’ll be ok.”

“Please make sure I am out of the house at that point!” Ginny said, pointing her butty in Hermione’s direction, “I think you just need to go for it, at least then you’ll know either way.”

“You’re probably right, I’m over thinking it aren’t I?”

“You wouldn’t be Hermione if you didn’t” Ginny said, smiling fondly at her. “Now let’s order some cake.”

Hermione left the coffee shop with something of a plan. She left work bang on time that evening; she’d decided to head home first and that if he wasn’t here she was going to go up to the reserve. She had to figure this thing out.

She ran up the stairs of Grimmauld Place and quietly opened Charlie’s bedroom door; there was no sign of him. She went into her own room and changed quickly, letting her hair down and grabbing her boots on the way out the door. She felt a little wild and shaky but it would all be okay when she saw him.

She skipped down the stairs, stopping to sit on the bottom step to put her boots on. As she sat down the front door opened; in walked Charlie. She froze in the middle of putting on a boot.

“Charlie.” She said surprised, “What are you doing here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little update and I'm sorry to finish it there but the next chapter will be all about the smut!!


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Managed to get this ready a little early this week as it's a bank holiday here in Britain and it means I have a bit more time than usual. It's a short one but I hope you'll like it anyway!

“Well treasure, I live here...usually. Sorry I haven’t been around much this week, I feel like we’re always missing each other. Thought I’d try and catch you today.” He stood in front of her and she could smell the outdoors, his hair was tousled the way it always was when he’d been running his fingers through it. It always made her wanted to reach out and do the same. He was frowning at her now, “Are you heading out?”

“Actually, I was about to come and see you...and the reserve, I’ve missed being up there this week.” Hermione left her boots and stood up, it felt weird to be sat so low down in front of him.

“You can come over anytime love, you don’t need to wait for an invitation. I thought you knew that.”

“Oh, yeah I know, it’s just I don’t want Morris getting annoyed that I’m out the office too much.”

“Don’t worry about Morris, I’ll just tell him I can’t get the job done without you.” Charlie said.

He always seemed so genuine when he said these things. Maybe Ginny was right, maybe he was waiting for her, waiting for a sign. 

She heard footsteps on the stairs and looked up to see Harry rushing down, he was winding a Holyhead Harpies scarf around his neck. “Hi, sorry can’t stop I’m already late. Ginny has her big game against the Chudley Cannons tonight and I told Ron I’d meet him there. There’s a chicken pie ready to go into the oven though. You guys alright?” He looked at them both stood there in the hallway.

Harry’s words sunk in and she remembered Ginny’s game; she realised they’d have the house to themselves. “Yes, go!” Hermione said eagerly, standing up to shoo him out the door. “We’ll be fine. Thanks Harry.”

“Ok great, don’t wait up!” he said with a smile, stepping out the front door and disappearing with a crack.

Hermione shut the door and glanced at Charlie who was giving her a look she couldn’t quite read. They had the whole night together, alone in the house. They’d been staring at each other for too long at this point, neither one saying anything.

“Wine!” Hermione blurted out, cringing internally, “Let’s warm up the pie and open a bottle.” She walked past Charlie without waiting for him to say anything, heading to the kitchen and hoping that she’d feel a little braver after a glass of wine.

She’d turned the oven on and was pouring them both a glass of white wine by the time Charlie had followed her into the kitchen. He sat down at the table and she set the glass down in front of him before moving to sit on the other side of the table. She really should have planned what to say before this point. She’d never really been too sure how people started a casual love affair.

“So...” he said, looking at her. Once she looked at his eyes she found she couldn’t look away. The air felt thick. She said nothing. “It’s not been too bad me living here then?”

She laughed at that, it had only been last week she’d caught him singing in the shower but in that time he’d changed everything. “I suppose it’s alright, I mean you come hand in hand with dragons so that’s better than most people.” Amusement lit up his eyes. This she could do, this flirty back and forth was easy, there just had to be more. Hermione spoke up again, “Seriously though it’s been nice getting to know you, I know we’ve technically known each other for years but it was only last Christmas I think I actually spoke to you properly.” 

“I always kind of thought you had a thing for me when you were younger actually” Charlie grinned at her. “You’d go bright red whenever I spoke to you, kind of like Ginny with Harry.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you are awfully blunt Charlie?”

His grin grew even wider, “I’ve heard that once or twice yeah.” He was quiet for a moment but Hermione couldn’t bring herself to say anything. “So I’m right then?”

She rolled her eyes, teasing him, “I was very young and misguided.”

He chuckled, “Young maybe, but something tells me you’ve never been misguided.”

“You’d be surprised” she replied. She kept quiet a few seconds longer not sure how far to push this conversation. “Actually you were probably my first proper crush. Although it was only because I never saw you enough to shatter the illusion!”

“Haha, ouch! So I’ve ruined it now?” Charlie looked over at her smiling.

“Oh definitely. now I’ve heard your singing in the shower that’s it. I’ll never see you the same way again.” She smiled back at him as she said it enjoying hearing his laugh boom out. She giggled with him, only stopping as he put his glass down, eyes darkening.

He pinned her with navy eyes, a crooked smile on his face as he said, “So, I haven’t got a chance now then?”

She could only look at him for a moment, unsure of what to say, the tension came wrapping around them again. It had never really left.

“Charlie” she managed to breathe out. Her eyes had to be telling him yes.

“Merlin, I love it when you say my name.” He said throatily. Hermione watched in wonder as he leaned forward over the table, slowly, obviously giving her time to back away but all she could think about was his hot skin pressed against her own. She reached up, curling her hands around his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair to pull him in quicker.

He moaned as their lips touched and in seconds the kiss had turned frantic and heavy. She couldn’t help it. Hermione wanted him more than anything, his mouth was pressed up against hers yet she pulled him closer, determined to close any distance between them. His tongue danced with hers, slow and sure making parts of her tingle.

She felt his hands, hot, gripping round her waist and before she knew it she had been lifted, kneeling on the table as he stood in front of her. He grasped her tight, hands around her hips so she was flush against him. She let out a whimper at that and pulled his hair tighter, tipping his head back so she could kiss him with abandon.

She started to be aware that they’d been kissing for a while and he still hadn’t moved his hands from her hips. He was breathing heavily and she could feel a rather obvious bulge pushed up against her legs. Hermione pulled away, placing a light kiss on his lips and he dropped his head to her shoulder.

“Fuck, Hermione.” She felt him take a deep breath. “Sorry, I didn’t...”

“You’d better not be apologising for that kiss Charlie Weasley!” Hermione interrupted him.

“No!” He pulled back to look in her eyes. “No, of course not, it’s just...” His blue eyes filled with concern. “I wanted to talk to you, then I just wanted to kiss you...and now look where we are. Shit, I should have made sure of some stuff before this.”

Hermione wanted nothing more than to kiss him again. “What is it?” she said more sharply than she intended, she didn’t want this to end now it had started. His kisses were even better that she could have dreamt up. Her hands went to the hem of his t-shirt and she pulled it up slightly so she could feel his warm skin, her hands skated over the rock hard flesh and she dug her nails into the side of him, rocking him up against her. He groaned and leant forward to kiss her neck.

“I’m not done with you yet but just listen a minute. Gods, I’ve wanted to snog you like that for ages. Well, I’ve wanted to do more than that to be honest but you’re not like other girls. I realise I can’t just shag you and walk out the door...look love, if we carry on with this that would be great, seriously...it’s just I don’t know how long I’ll be in Britain for. I don’t want to hurt you Hermione, I didn’t want to push for this without knowing where you’re at but to be honest, I never know what you’re thinking.”

Hermione sat back a little, “Charlie, I don’t want a boyfriend.” She debated whether or not to say the words that were hovering on her tongue but in the end she couldn’t stop them, “I just want a bloody good shag!”

Charlie looked at her carefully, shock passing over his face then he grinned wickedly, “I thought you’d never ask.”

As soon as the words left his mouth he scooped her up, hands covering her arse as he squeezed then lowered her down onto the table so he stood in between her spread legs. Hermione wrapped them around him and he bent down, holding her head in his hands so he could kiss her thoroughly, he kept his tongue slow, stroking up against hers in a way that had Hermione’s core pulsing in time with each stroke.

She reached for his t-shirt again and ripped it over his head before following and doing the same with her jumper. Without missing a beat he reached for the button of her jeans, undoing them with amazing speed and sliding them down over her hips and off her long legs.

Hermione sat on the wooden kitchen table, bare except for a lacy black bra and scanty knickers. Charlie loosed a long breath as he looked at her; he ran his hands down her side and she felt the rough skin of his fingers scraping along her smooth skin. When he reached her hips he pulled her sharply towards his so she connected with his cock, still straining against his jeans. She couldn’t help the moan and looked into his eyes for a moment, relishing the fact that this was actually happening.

Her eyes trailed all over his muscled body, taking in the smattering of red hair, the scars that littered his torso, the tattoos that flowed all over him. Gods, he was all she wanted.

Desire had flared all over her body and this couldn’t happen quick enough, she undid her bra and flung it over her shoulder. Charlie froze and looked at her breasts, now exposed to the cool kitchen air, nipples peaked as he watched her with a ravenous hunger. Hermione was starting to feel like one touch from him was going to set her on fire and she wriggled beneath his hands, desperate for more contact.

He gave her a half smile, “Slow down treasure, we’ve got plenty of time for all that.” As he spoke his large hands worked their way back up her body and reached forward to cover her breasts. Hermione rested her hands on the table behind her, thrusting her breasts up so they filled his hands. He growled a little under his breath and his thumbs ran across her nipples, making her arch up into his touch even more. Her legs tightened on his waist pulling him to her as he lowered his head, taking one of the straining peaks in his hot mouth and sucking hard. She cried out, loud and started to wonder if she could come from just the sight of him stood in between her naked legs, licking at her nipple.

Everything felt so good but she wanted more, needed it now. She dug a hand back through his curls and pulled slightly, “Charlie” she breathed out and he seemed to take the hint. He leant over her further so she had to drop onto her elbows, nearly lying flat on the table. One of his big hands moved down to the top of her thighs and in a moment her knickers had been ripped from her body.

She gasped in shock and he huffed out a chuckle, “Hope you weren’t too attached to them.” He said throatily not giving her time to respond, as if she could have formed words when he started to kiss down her body. He went slow, lazily licking and nipping at her body making her shiver at every touch. She started to feel the shivers lower. 

His hands held her hips in place as he peppered kisses around the tops of her thighs, never quite reaching where she wanted. Hermione’s hips bucked up and she heard his laugh again as he gripped her even harder. “You’re a delightfully eager little thing.” His voice held the promise of the things he could do.

She looked down just in time to see the head of red curls bob between her legs and a tongue come out to lick up her slit. She felt like screaming and a noise not dissimilar erupted from her as he reached her clit and swirled around it with his tongue. Hermione didn’t know what to do, her body felt on fire and watching him lick between her legs was going to cause her to erupt into flames she was sure. Charlie lapped between her folds and quicker than should have been possible she felt her legs tingling, she was being carried up higher and higher as his tongue danced tiny circles on her clit, flicking and teasing her so that she thought she’d never get enough of this.

He changed to long licks, his tongue brushing deep between her and she felt the building inside her stronger than ever before. She started chanting his name over and over and she felt his fingers grip down hard on her hips knowing she was close. In seconds she shattered on his tongue, riding his mouth with no control. The pleasure seemed to last forever and the whole time he held her, tongue on her clit while she rode it out. Finally, she lay back down flat on the table, the strength in her arms given way and Charlie lazily kissed his way back up her body.

Strong arms reached under her to pull her up to him as he kissed her deeply. Hermione felt the fire flare up again between them. He’d given her a soul shattering orgasm and all she wanted was more. She reached down, stroking along the trail of hair that led her down to his belt. She undid the buckle and buttons so he could spring free into her palm. The size of him made her needy all over again, he was hard and hot and heavy. As she ran a hand up and down the considerable length of him his head flung back and groaned loudly.

She watched in pleasure as the muscles in his arms tightened and his jaw twitched with the effort to stay in control. That wouldn’t do. She kept her hand going but leant forward and nipped slightly on his chest, feeling hard muscle beneath her mouth. That seemed to change everything as he snapped his head back up and stared at her, eyes dark and breath heavy. “Gods, you’re bloody amazing!” he murmured.

Hermione took his face in her hands and leaned forward to whisper in his ear, “I want you Charlie.”

“Fuck” he ground out then he quickly lined himself up with her entrance and thrust into her without any warning. Hermione leant back on her hands as she felt him filling her everywhere, it was glorious. “Lie down, treasure” he said and she obeyed, lying back flat against the wooden table so he could scoop her hips up slightly. She was arched up off the table, breasts pointing skyward. He pulled out slightly and then went straight back in, finding that wonderful spot inside of her and making her cry out. He kept thrusting, in and out, keeping her hips held at just the right angle for him to take her exactly as he wanted. Her breasts were bouncing with every thrust and the thought of what they looked like, her totally naked spread and out on the table for him as he pounded into her jeans still round his legs, was nearly enough to make her come on the spot.

Her eyes screwed shut as she felt her climax starting again, she was fluttering wildly around him and he was grunting on every thrust now, she knew he was close and just as she was about to go over the edge she felt him grow bigger inside her. That was enough and she crashed, moaning loudly as sensations poured over her body. She was vaguely aware of Charlie’s shout as he pushed right inside her and held her tight to him as he trembled along with her.


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I 'ummed and ahhed' about changing pov but ultimately I think we all need to know what's going through Charlie's head! Thanks for the lovely comments on the last chapter, hope this one tickles your fancy too ;)

Charlie fell on top of the table, covering Hermione with his body and breathlessly kissing her. She was amazing, better than he’d been dreaming of. As he’d suspected this wouldn’t be enough; this incredible shag on the kitchen table would never be enough for him. He had to have more of her and he was determined to get it. He lightened his kiss and she hummed underneath him, a lazy smile on her face.

Her eyes fluttered open and he moved back slightly to look at her, “Alright there treasure?” He grinned, knowing full well that was more than alright.

“Yes.” She breathed out, “Mmmm...Charlie, that was...so good.”

Charlie stood up, still inside her, the sight of her spread out on the table was nearly enough to make him hard again. Her curls were fanned out over the wood and a beautiful blush was blooming on her chest, she looked well and truly fucked and the real thing was even better than his imaginings, of which there had been many. He looked down at where they were joined and his cock twitched inside her, making her gasp. Gods, the things he wanted to do to this witch. He was tempted to just flip her over and take her again but the comfort of a bedroom seemed better suited than the open kitchen of a shared house...and he was hungry.

Reluctantly he pulled out of her and saw that yep, his cock would soon be ready to do this all over again. Still, he pulled his jeans up around his hips and scooped his t-shirt up from the floor. Hermione had sat up, perched naked on the table. He remembered that first night here having tea with her and Harry when he’d questioned her senseless about her job all to try and stop imagining her naked just like this. He’d felt conflicted about the attraction to her at first but right now he couldn’t give a stuff if it was inappropriate. 

“You’ll have to eat something before we do that again treasure.” He hovered over her, dropping a kiss on her lips then passed her his t-shirt, “I’ll be keeping you up late.”

She smiled with a twinkle in her eye and he was pleased to see that he’d brought that feisty side out of her. 

“Promises, promises.” She teased and pulled his t-shirt over her head, she grabbed her wand no doubt to do a quick cleaning spell so he set about getting plates to warm up.

“If someone walks in right now, this is going to look pretty strange.” Hermione said and he looked round to see her sat in a chair, his t-shirt draped casually over her with her long legs crossed and looking damn inviting. “Especially with those on the floor.” she giggled, pointing at the scrap of black lace he had destroyed.

Charlie leant down picking up the rest of the discarded clothes, “Don’t pretend like you didn’t love it.”

“I never said that.” she blushed, “It’s actually been a little fantasy of mine. Although Charlie, do you mind if we don’t tell anyone else about this? I could do without all the questions about what we’re doing.”

“Anything you want treasure, but maybe we should talk about what we’re doing. I really did want to talk to you properly before this happened.” Charlie leant back on the counter unsure of how to put this. He knew he was due back in Romania eventually and getting into a relationship wouldn’t be the smartest move but at the same time something about Hermione felt different. She’d said she didn’t want a boyfriend though and he didn’t think he particularly wanted a girlfriend but his stomach clenched at the thought of having to let this witch go. “Just so you know I have no intention of letting that be the only time we do this. You said you didn’t want a boyfriend, but I like you...I liked you even before the sex and I want to do more, more of this but more of just spending time with you. I don’t want to be with anyone else at the moment and I definitely don’t want to share you. Apart from that this can be as casual as like you like, and we can keep it quiet for as long as you want.”

She laughed, “I like how you’re so up front about this arrangement.”

Charlie shrugged, “Makes life easier when you’re honest with people.”

Hermione winced, “Will it be hard for you to keep this quiet, what about Sunday at the Burrow...?”

Charlie went over to her crouching down and holding her hands, “It’ll be fine Hermione, stop worrying. If this is ever going to be...something more, then of course I’d have to tell them. But for now we’re just having fun and I don’t think we need to go upsetting everyone for that. They’ve never known anything about who I was with before.”

She nodded but uncertainty still hung on her face. He was starting to get used to the fact that she didn’t share her feelings easily.

“Anything else?” He asked, still crouched down in front of her.

“So on Sunday...with Ron…” Hermione started, Charlie fought against a blast of guilt, they never said his name. “I feel like I’ve put you in an awkward position now.”

“It might be awkward but you haven’t put me there love, trust me. I knew full well what I was doing.” Charlie had been going back and forth on this for weeks, well if he was honest since Christmas when he first started to realise that his feelings towards her had changed. Hermione had always been like one of the family, and clearly off limits. For years they’d all known Ron had fancied her but seeing the curly haired witch over the holidays when she wasn’t attached to his brother, he’d found it hard to keep his mind off her. She’d matured and had been able to talk to him without babbling, she smiled at him often and tiny freckles danced across her nose. She’d worn her Weasley Christmas jumper and made it look sinfully good, so good in fact that he spent most of the day imagining peeling it off her to be able to get a peek at those curves underneath. 

When he’d moved back here, he really hadn’t intended for anything to happen between them but he’d still felt drawn to her all the time. He couldn’t help but try to make her blush and smile except now when he did it, instead of teenage giggles something else lit up in her eyes that made him want to push her body up against the wall and snog her senseless. Before he knew what he was doing he was asking her up to the reserve and insisting she stay the weekend. The more time he spent with her the more he got used to reading her and every time he saw the desire flash over her face he had to make himself step back; he didn’t want to push himself on her before he was sure. In the end his feelings about her were serious enough that it outweighed the guilt that she was his little brothers ex. She was worth the fallout.

“Now let’s get this tea ready, the sooner we eat the sooner I can get you upstairs.” The heat that flared through her eyes then was enough to take his mind off Ron and Sunday dinner.

After they’d eaten he sent Hermione upstairs, told her to get comfortable in his room while he tidied away the plates. Seeing her pad out of the kitchen in only his shirt was enough that he made quick work of the dishes. 

He went up the stairs feeling strangely nervous. They’d been caught up in the moment earlier and now, this was different. Now he really choosing to be with her, he couldn’t pass it off as a mistake in the heat of the moment. He waited outside the door to his room, hand resting on the heavy wooden door while he took a deep breath trying to calm the anticipation coursing through his body.

He pushed the door open and nearly stumbled at the sight that greeted him. She had certainly made herself comfortable.

She’d stripped off the t-shirt and was lying in the middle of his bed wearing only a sexy smile. He stepped into the room quickly, shutting the door behind him. 

He looked at her again thinking that he would never be able to get this image out of his mind, even if he wanted to. Immediately his jeans felt a little tighter and he took a moment to compose himself, thinking of what he wanted to do to her before he lost control all together and sank into that delicious silken heat. Just when he thought he’d got himself under control Hermione smiled a naughty little smile and ran her hand along her chest. Charlie moved unbidden to the end of the bed and watched as her fingers moved lower and ran circles around her nipples, already standing out and begging for attention. She flicked across one of them and gasped. Charlie was caught between watching her put on this erotic display and grabbing her to him instantly.

In the end he decided two could play at that game; he reached for his wand and vanished his jeans.

The naughty little minx bit her lip and started lowering her hand further down her body, towards the trim curls between her legs. Charlie wrapped a hand around his own cock, slowly moving up and down and watched as her hand paused and her eyes dropped, staring hungrily at him as he pumped along his cock. He could see the blush form over her cheeks but her warm brown eyes held nothing but desire.

“Don’t stop now.” He managed to say, voice low and gritty as he continued to pleasure himself. He watched as her hand carried on, lower and lower until she dipped a finger inside her own folds. She moaned and he could see her swirling around her own clit. She spread her legs wide, knees bent and parted her folds giving him a perfect view as she dipped her own finger inside. He had to stop, had to stop touching himself as the sight of her was enough to make him come there and then. He grabbed her ankles and yanked her down the bed towards him, she squealed and giggled. 

“I’ll take over from here treasure.” He murmured. He had to touch her, couldn’t stop himself from reaching down and running a rough thumb over her clit. She shivered and gasped so he moved a finger inside her, nearly falling to his knees when he felt how wet she was. He rubbed her clit again and felt her clamp down on his finger, fuck he wasn’t going to last long. His cock was already aching to be inside her. He added another finger and carried on as long as he dared without actually making her come then leant down to kiss her. Their tongues tangled but he pulled back and whispered in her ear, “Turn over for me, love.” She scrambled quickly over and knelt up in front of him. She glanced over her shoulder and when their eyes met he thought he might very well tear apart the world for this woman.

Charlie moved so he was kneeling behind her on the bed and grabbed his cock. He rubbed it in between her legs, intending to tease her but felt sure he was just tormenting himself. 

Hermione rolled her hips on him and moaned out, “Do it Charlie.” 

Gods, every time she said his name it turned him on. He pushed inside her a little bit and had to stop, had to slow himself before the heat and the pressure sent him over the edge. He ever so slowly pushed into her, spreading her. When he was pushed up as far as he could go he grabbed her hips, pulling her to him making sure there was no space in between them. She had moaned through the whole thing but he couldn’t concentrate on the sounds when his heartbeat was thundering in his ears.

She wiggled and he fought against the urge to pound into her. Charlie knew she was close but he was too. He reached an arm around her waist and pulled her up so her back was against his chest. This position was tight and he moved the hand up to pull on her nipple while the other went in between her legs, stroking ever so lightly. His lips clamped down on her neck and if he concentrated on getting her off he might just hold on. He felt the change in her as she started trembling and her walls became even tighter. She was whimpering loudly and her hips started bouncing up and down on the length of him just as he felt her climax begin. As soon as she started he grabbed her hips, moving quickly, pulling her up and down on him so he came right along with her, growling her name in her ear as he emptied inside her.

They fell onto the bed, hot and sweaty but he scooped her up into his arms and kissed her, lazily moving his tongue against hers. She moaned and moved her body even closer to his, legs tangling together. They didn’t say anything; just lay there together until their breathing was back to normal. 

Gods, he’d had some good sex in his time but he’d never had this, never felt this wild, undeniable connection. Usually he just had sex because he was horny, it didn’t necessarily matter who the other person was. There had been one or two people over the years that had turned his head enough that they had a regular arrangement but something about this was different. He didn’t want to let go of her, didn’t even want her to leave the room. He buried his head in her curls as his hand ran up and down her body, tracing her soft skin. He’d have to figure this out at some point but for now he was just glad he had her.

“So,” she started, muttering the words against his chest, “I haven’t yet seen this drunken mistake.”

He moved back to look at her and saw her smile, he answered with a grin, “Well I’ll just have to keep you here then, keep us both naked until you find it.”

She laughed and the sound was enough to make him need to kiss her, he reached over, buried his fingers in her hair and snogged her senseless.

Neither of them said anything about it but she spent the night in his bed, he didn’t want to her to go back even to the room next to his. It just seemed right that she sleep there in his arms. It was a risk with Harry and probably Ginny in the house but he doubted either one would notice but he’d locked his door just in case.

~~~

The next morning he woke up too hot despite the fact he had no covers on him. The little witch next to him was rolled up in them, still somehow curled in his arms. He watched her sleep, her face so relaxed. Freckles smattered her cheeks and nose, she’d look quite innocent he thought except he knew now what lay beneath the surface. If it was hard to resist kissing her before it was nearly impossible now; now he knew how soft her lips were and he’d remembered how her curves had felt moulded against his own hard body. He knew what noises she made as she came and he had the image of her splayed out on that table, hair flying around her. He had to get up, he had told the team they would be starting early on the reserve today and he was never late, never. Gods, how he wanted to wake her up in wondrous ways though.

He left her sleeping and grabbed a towel, heading for the shower before he gave in and unwrapped her from those covers.

He’d showered and was heading back over the landing when he saw her door open, he could hear someone moving around in there so he stopped, poking his head in through the door. Hermione had obviously woken and was now pottering around her room in a silky dressing gown. She was getting a few clothes out of drawers, humming slightly to herself. Her hair was in complete disarray but he could only smile at the sight.

“Morning, treasure.” He spoke up from the door and watched as she jumped slightly.

“Merlin, Charlie you scared me.” She looked over at him and he saw the marks on her neck from where he’d kissed her last night. It turned him on more than it should and he was very aware he was wearing only a towel right now. She smiled at him, seeing the glint in his eye, “Don’t even think about it...I am never late for work and I need a shower, if you step into this room I’ll never get going.”

Charlie didn’t really have time either but he couldn’t help tormenting her a little. He stepped into the room and shut the door softly behind him.

“Charlie”, she warned, sharply, “I’m serious.” She tried to keep her voice stern but it was ruined by the way her gaze swept over his body. He loved the way she did that. All the times he’d caught her looking over his body and every time he’d wanted to beg her to just touch him. Now he could.

“Just a kiss love, before we go to work.” He prowled over to her and she stepped back a little, a small smile on her face. As he got closer she hopped over the bed, grabbing her towel on the way and legged it to the door giggling. It was the giggle that did it and he darted back to her, reaching her just as she got to the door. His towel had fallen on the floor but he didn’t care. He stood behind her, caging her in and when she turned, lips playfully pouting and he bent down, slowly brushing his lips up against hers. A soft kiss, the kiss he could have given her in bed this morning to wake her up.

She sighed against his mouth and he felt his cock start to awaken. He licked along her bottom lip and she opened her mouth, he was about to push his tongue against hers when there was a knock on the bedroom door.

Hermione jumped out of her skin. Charlie froze.

“Hermione!” Harry’s voice came from the other side of the door. “You in there, you decent?”

The handle rattled beside them and they both looked at each other in shock. It started to open and Charlie leant his weight on it slamming it shut again.

“No, Harry, I’m not decent! You’re meant to wait for a reply before you barge in.” Hermione said brusquely.

“Oh, well, sorry. It’s just, I wanted to borrow your toothpaste, mine has ran out.” Harry replied.

Charlie watched as she rolled her eyes and he grinned at her. He moved closer, pinning her to the door with his bare body. She looked up at him, eyes wide and he leaned down to kiss her neck as he rolled his hips into her.

“Fine, just go and get it Harry!” she managed to get out with a light squeak.

“Thanks Hermione.” There was quiet but he didn’t seem to have moved. Charlie carried on nipping along her neck. “You alright? You sound a bit weird.” Charlie chuckled low into her neck and she swatted his shoulder.

“I’m fine, just...I’m going to be late for work. I’ll see you later.”

“Oh okay.” Charlie heard footsteps shuffle, then stop. “Err, you haven’t seen Charlie have you? His door is open and Crookshanks is on his bed.”

“No I haven’t seen Charlie, if he’s daft enough to leave his door open then he’ll have to put up with the cat hair won’t he?”

“Yeah suppose. Just a bit weird is all...” Harry muttered but was definitely going to the bathroom, they heard him crossing back across the hall and going up the stairs and Charlie couldn’t hold in the laughter anymore.

She pushed him away, eyes blazing. “You’re such trouble Charlie Weasley!”

He watched as she tried to keep the smile off her lips and failed. He could do this all day but he really was going to be late for work now. “Best that you discover that now love. As much fun as this has been I really do have to go, I’ll see you after work yeah?”

“Yes.” She replied, smiling beautifully.

He gave her a quick peck and opened the door, having a look out before walking to his room completely naked. He heard her giggle behind her and realised she had finally caught a glimpse of the tattoo on his bum cheek, that little niffler was probably waving at her right now. He just turned around and winked, looking forward to hearing that giggle again tonight.


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short but sweet one this week.

Charlie was late for work; his team were sitting around ready for him to lead the meeting when he finally made it through the wards.

 

“Not often you’re late boss.” Delta chirped up from the centre of the group.

 

“I’m still getting used to not living on site” Charlie replied quickly, “and having to wait for the bathroom.” He looked around his colleagues; there were only three of them he’d poached from the current reserve workers. His mind struggled to catch up with what he wanted to say, instead it kept throwing up images of wild caramel curls and fiery dark eyes. He shook his head trying to get his mind on the job.

 

“Err, so yeah, basically I want you all on this site full time from now on. We need to prepare for the dragons arriving.” he started.

 

“When exactly are they coming?” Delta asked, interrupting his train of thought.

 

“I haven’t got an exact date, they might need me in Romania next week to check it all out. While I’m gone you’ll be in charge Delta and I’ll need everything perfect for when I return. The dragons will be skittish enough as it is with the move, this needs to be a safe space for them.”

 

“No problem. Are you bringing them over yourself?” Delta answered confidently.

 

“I’m not sure yet, I may do.” Charlie answered truthfully. His plan had been to go out to Romania for about a week to oversee the move and then help transport the dragons. It was a difficult process with special cages and immense cloaking spells. They had to fly with the cages in shifts and it would take days, maybe even weeks to arrive in Wales. He was starting to regret that now as the thought of not seeing Hermione for nearly two weeks pulled at something in his gut. “I’ll let you know as soon as I make the decision.”

 

“How long will you be with us after the move then?” Delta’s voice rang out again.

 

“You’re full of the questions this morning Delta.” Charlie replied with a slight snap.

 

“Just want to know where we all stand.” Delta answered back, not at all bothered. “Rumours are you’ve been offered a permanent job here.”

 

“Yeah, well when you hear it from me you’ll know if it’s true or not. Now let me go through this checklist of things we need in place for the arrival then I can allocate jobs. For today though I want us all out in the reserve checking the wards, we have to be familiar with every inch of this ground. I’ll be interviewing on Monday so I’ll be relying on you guys to train them up. No one goes out into the reserve until one of us say they’re ready, got it?” He watched as they all nodded and starting going through his files for the checklist. “Right, preparing the caves, who wants it?”

 

The day passed quickly and Charlie kept himself busy. Delta’s questions still bothered him though, he didn’t know how she’d got to hear of his job offer. No one knew that there was a chance for him to stay on permanently. At first he hadn’t said a definite no as he didn’t know how the dragons would settle in. The reserve was looking great and he was happy with the team so far but he didn’t want to commit to leaving if he wasn’t happy with the set up. He’d always imagined he’d go back to Romania eventually but the pull of it certainly wasn’t as strong as it once was. In fact, it was just about the last thing he wanted to think about right now.

 

He walked through the door at Grimmauld Place to see Harry and Ginny getting on coats. “You guys off out?” he said, pleased that he and Hermione would have the house to themselves.

 

“Yep, and so are you.” Ginny said smiling, “Friday night is pub night, Hermione’s working late so she’ll meet us there.”

 

Charlie groaned, it had been a long day and all he wanted was a shower, a hot meal and to take his witch to bed. “Not the Leaky?”

 

“No, don’t be ridiculous, all sorts go in there. We go to The Wiggentree at the other end of the alley.”

 

“I don’t know Ginny, I’m shattered and I need a shower.”

 

Harry was wrapping a scarf around his neck behind them. “Come on Charlie, you’ve got time, Hermione won’t be there for another hour or so. Just grab a shower now and meet us there. The food’s really good and they’ve got their own micro brewery. What was it we had last week Gin?”

 

“Dragon’s Blood ruby ale. I already told Hermione you’d be there Charlie and you don’t want to let her down do you.” She smirked at him and stuck out her tongue when Harry wasn’t watching.

 

Charlie rolled his eyes, she definitely knew then. “Alright, you’re buying the first round though, I’ll have one of those Dragon Blood beers and I’ll be there in half an hour.”

 

He had a quick shower and changed into jeans and a thick, speckled navy jumper. He waved his damp hair back with his fingers and set out to find The Wiggentree.

 

He apparated in the alley, surprised to see how busy it was. A lot of the shops were still open and he could see the crowds of people still inside Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes. It had been so long since he’d visited Diagon Alley when he wasn’t specifically looking for something, it was nice to look around and see the magical folk out enjoying themselves. He walked the length of the cobbled street and located The Wiggentree. The pub itself looked small, tall and narrow but often the outside of buildings on Diagon Alley gave no hint of what they looked like inside. The pub was painted a bright white, making it stand out against the other buildings and flower boxes full of what looked like roses hovered under the windows. Charlie walked inside and found it was of course, much bigger than it looked from outside. The pub was lively but not too busy and he spotted Harry and Ginny in a booth by the bar. Three pints sat on the table and he slid in opposite them. The room was warm and welcoming but big enough that you didn’t feel so squashed in, there was a pleasant murmur of chatter around the room and despite himself he felt glad to be out.

 

 “Nice pub this.” he admitted.

 

“Of course it is. Hermione will be here soon so order your food.” Ginny replied, chucking him a menu. It was the usual pub fare and Charlie quickly decided on the steak and ale pie.

 

He could hear Harry and Ginny chatting about quidditch but Charlie quickly put his menu to one side and kept his eyes on the door so he didn’t miss her when she walked in. Every now and then Ginny would draw him into the conversation but he still kept checking the room waiting for Hermione. He’d nearly finished his pint by the time she arrived but it turned out she’d have been hard to miss; she’d changed out of her ministry robes and was wearing a grey, thin knit dress that clung to her hips when she walked. The dress should have been modest but with her curves on display it was anything but. Her hair was wild around her and she looked, well she looked really bloody happy. Charlie couldn’t keep his eyes off her and he smiled as she walked up to them, getting up to let her in the booth.

 

“Drink, love?” he asked as he reached out a hand to the small of her back, fingers grazing against the thin wool. That touch was allowed.

 

“Oh Hermione is offered a drink is she?” Ginny quipped from her seat. “What about me and Harry here dying of thirst?”

 

“I’ll get yours too.” Charlie said shooting a glance at Ginny to get her to hold her tongue, as if that had ever worked before. “What do you want Hermione?”

 

“I’ll have the Salazar’s Stout. Thanks Charlie.” She flashed him a smile and he honestly thought about kissing her right there in front of everyone and damning the consequences.

 

When he sat back in the booth, handing around the pints he moved up close to her, leaning in slightly. She looked at him, warmth in her eyes, “Good day, Charlie?” she lifted her glass to her lips and the foam from the stout stayed on her top lip briefly before her tongue darted out to collect it. He couldn’t help reaching a hand under the table and squeezing her thigh, she smiled slowly, seductively and he felt his temperature notch up.

 

“Not bad.” Charlie held back words he definitely couldn’t say in front of Harry and Ginny. “Better now though. Delta was asking after you. Think she’d have liked to have you back there today.”

 

“Believe me, I’d have much rather been there than in my office under the mountains of paperwork.” Hermione said, “You’ve spoilt me with that beautiful reserve.”

 

Harry captured her interest with some Ministry gossip and the four of them chatted easily until their food came. Charlie tucked into the steak and ale pie which in all fairness was pretty good. He had to admit he was enjoying himself and was even a little glad Ginny had dragged him out. The only problem being the fact it was torture to sit next to Hermione for so long and not be able to touch her or kiss her. Charlie hadn’t been on many actual dates but he was sure this would be a pretty amazing one if only he was allowed to kiss her.

 

Harry sat across from them with his arm around Ginny, holding her close. Charlie hated that he couldn’t do the same, he’d spotted a couple snogging across the pub and wished it was him and his witch. He kept his leg pressed up firmly against hers and had even traced the skin of her thigh a couple of times but it wasn’t enough. Something in the way she kept stealing looks at him told him she was thinking the same.

 

Suddenly the noise in the pub started to quieten, the chatter lowered to a murmur before it fell silent. He saw a woman with a harp make her way up onto a little makeshift stage in the bay windows. She had golden flowing hair and as the main lights dimmed her hair illuminated her on the stage. The harp drowned her in size but somehow she carried it elegantly. Charlie watched as the tiny witch positioned herself with her harp ready to play, it felt like the room was waiting for something incredible to happen.

 

He chanced a glance at Hermione and saw her just as transfixed as the rest of the pub. He turned his attention back to stage and watched as light fingers plucked out a few notes, testing the sound and then filled the room with the most incredible melody. Charlie wouldn’t have really listed the harp as one of his favourite things to listen to but when the woman started to sing it was enchanting. He looked at Hermione and she finally broke away her stare to look at him, eyes wide with wonder.

 

“She’s amazing isn’t she? We always come down when she’s playing.” She whispered, leaning close to him.

 

The whole place was still, watching her as if under a spell. The music flowed around the room and Charlie felt himself relaxing as if he was letting go of a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. Ginny and Harry had turned around to watch so he found Hermione’s hand, tugging it under the table so he could hold it as they watched the musician. He had no idea how long the first song lasted but when it had finished it was if she really had worked some magic on them all. There was silence for a moment while people came to followed thundering applause. She bowed her head lightly, not saying a word as she plucked a few chords, calling for quiet and getting ready to play again.

 

The music had soothed some part of him, he couldn’t quite say what had happened but she had played four songs and afterwards when the lights came back up he could see others blinking at the brightness, dreamy smiles on their faces as if all was right in the world. He kept hold of Hermione’s hand under the table even as Ginny and Harry turned around. He couldn’t bear to let go of it and Hermione was holding onto him just as tightly. It didn’t matter anyway as Harry and Ginny were only watching each other; Harry reached forward to take Ginny’s face in his hands and Charlie looked away quickly as it became obvious he was about to kiss her.

 

He turned and Hermione was smiling with a slightly sad expression on her face, “It’s always like this, something about her playing does it. I think it make people thankful for what they have, for who they love.” And as Charlie looked around the pub he would see a few people kissing but more were hugging, friends throwing arms around each other and slapping shoulders. Happiness easy on their faces.

 

“And what about you?” Charlie asked softly.

 

She lifted his hand from where they were joined and planted a soft kiss on the back of it, “Shall we go home?” Charlie nodded, a grin spreading out on his face even as he registered that she hadn’t answered the question.

 

“What about those two?” He nodded towards Harry and Ginny, still determined not to look.

 

“Oh they’ll be like that for a while yet. See you back at home.” She said in Harry and Ginny’s direction. Charlie daren’t look, he didn’t fancy catching an eyeful of anyone snogging his little sister.

 

He kept hold of Hermione’s hand and pulled her from the booth, keeping tight hold as they weaved through the pub. When they stepped outside he turned and pulled her close, threading fingers through her hair he slowly watched her. She looked up at him, brown eyes swirling and she seemed to hold her breath. He didn’t care if anyone saw right now.

 

“I’ve wanted to kiss you all night.” Charlie said huskily as he wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her close. He rubbed a thumb down her neck feeling her pulse racing then slowly lowered his face to hers. He kissed her lightly, slowly, just feeling her lips with his own. She’d brought her hands up and was holding onto his jumper, fingers gripping the wool over his chest. He slowly opened her lips with his tongue and set to kissing her. Everything he’d felt that night poured out into the kiss, it wasn’t frantic or wild but his blood was simmering and he could feel her gripping on even tighter to him. His chest felt tight and he started to wonder if he’d been put under the musicians spell as emotion after emotion came crashing over him, things started clicking into place and his heart beat faster as he started to realise he’d never kissed anyone like this before. He’d never tenderly held someone to him, never felt all the things he felt for Hermione, never thought he’d be happy to just stand and kiss someone in the street without even thinking about what came next.

 

It should have frightened him, all these years he’d never thought the right person would come along, never thought he wanted it. But she was here, he knew it in his bones. Everything felt different with her. He found he didn’t have room to feel the fear when every part of his body was taken up with her. He pulled her closer, still kissing her, letting everything else fade away.

 

Minutes passed when she pulled back slightly and chuckled. Charlie opened his mouth and he could feel the words bubbling up in him, what he was feeling and what he desperately wanted to tell her.

 

“I thought you were taking me home” she murmured, leaning forward and kissing his jaw lightly.

 

Charlie exhaled, a bit of sense coming back to him. She didn’t want all that, didn’t want all his feelings, the commitment. She’d told him right from the start, she wanted a good shag. His fingers gripped round her waist, he’d give her everything...eventually. But for now, if that’s all she wanted that’s what she’d get. “Of course treasure.” if he sounded disappointed she didn’t seem to notice.

 

He apparated them to Grimmauld Place, pulling her into the house, hands already roaming her curves, desire chasing away the words on his tongue.

 

 ~~~

 

Charlie had told his mum that he’d stay at The Burrow for the weekend though, as light filtered through the curtains on Saturday morning, he was reluctant to leave the naked witch currently curled around him in his bed. He fucked her senseless last night; there was no other way to say it. It was as if he thought he could tie her to him if he made her need his body. He showed no mercy as he delivered orgasm after orgasm; she came on his tongue, on his fingers, around his cock. He had her on the bed and against the wall, pounding into her over and over until she was incoherent. Once he came inside her he’d start with his fingers, curling inside of her until the sight of her shattering around his hand had his cock ready to go again. She’d wanted a good shag and he’d given her the best sex of her life, it was the best sex of his life if he was honest. He could hardly complain that he wanted more after all that...and yet part of him knew that he did.

 

He gave Hermione a brief kiss goodbye and she murmured, “Charlie” in her sleep. It was hard to drag himself away from her but he was due at The Burrow and it would be best to see Mum before everyone else arrived. Best get the inquisition out of the way. He packed a few things into a rucksack and set off for his childhood home.

 

He walked through the door and Mum was there waiting, she’d have had her eyes on the family clock for most of the morning. Not for the first time Charlie was glad that the clock’s worst reading was ‘mortal peril’ and not ‘off having incredibly hot sex’.

 

“Charlie!” Molly called out and wrapped him up in a hug, she still managed to envelope him even when she was half his size. “I’m so glad you’re home, oh my boy, it’s so good to see you.”

 

“Hi Mum” Charlie said, taking in the sights of home with a sigh. It never changed. Molly kissed his cheek and bustled off around the kitchen, flicking her wand and setting the kettle boiling before lining up cups and a jug of milk beside it.

 

“I’ve got a roast chicken ready for tomorrow but today I thought we’d keep it simple, I’ve got scones in the oven and cheese on toast for lunch. We can have a good catch up and you can tell me all about the new reserve. It must be so lovely to be back home.” Molly chattered to him as she made the tea.

 

“Sounds great Mum, thanks. I’m just going to dump my stuff upstairs.” Charlie headed up the staircase, way on up to his old room at the top of the house. Just like the rest of the house it had hardly changed since he moved out, it had old Quidditch posters on the wall and his Gryffindor scarf hung up on the back on the door. His old single bed was covered with a quilt Mum had made with different dragon patches.

 

He sighed flopping down on the bed unable to keep his mind off Hermione. He missed her, his little curly haired witch. He wondered if she was waking up in his bed and missing him too, he hoped to all the Gods that she thought about him as much as he thought about her.

 

He’d see her tomorrow, amongst everyone and again would have to pretend they were nothing more than friends. He’d told her he didn’t mind and had meant it but thinking about it now he knew it was going to be harder than he thought to hide the way he felt about her. Charlie knew really there was only one way forward now and he’d have to tell her how he felt, but then he’d be going back to Romania soon and there was the whole Ron issue. Really he just wasn’t ready to potentially ruin everything between them before it had even had a chance.

 

As he made his way out of his room and back down the stairs he could hear the sounds of Mum and Dad chatting away in the kitchen, their voices interspersed with quick chuckles. Charlie smiled to himself. Even when Mum gave him a hard time home was still home and a day of being given infinite cups of tea and endless cakes wasn’t much of a hardship. As he walked into the warm kitchen and his Dad came over to hug him the churning thoughts were chased away. He had a bit of time before he had to make a decision and a warm scone with jam and cream was waiting for him in the meantime.    


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, just got this one sorted. Most of the story is written but I keep finding things are changing as I go over the chapters, this one took longer than I thought to sort through but I hope you like it!

Charlie was up early on Sunday feeling restless. His Mum had been clucking around in the kitchen for hours before people started to arrive; Bill and Fleur would be here soon with Victoire and he hoped Ron wouldn’t be too late. The twins would be along later after they’d opened the shop for the morning and Percy had made his excuses; he was working away in America and reminded them that international portkeys were only used in emergencies, unless it was Ministry related work.

 

Charlie pottered around downstairs for a bit hoping Ron would show up soon. He knew Harry, Ginny and Hermione would be flooing in together but he’d hoped to chat to Ron before anyone else came. He knew couldn’t tell him anything but he’d feel better after he’d spoke to him.

 

He tried to help Mum a bit with the cooking but he kept getting in her way. Eventually she shooed him out to the lounge with a mug of tea. He tried to relax, sat on the squashy sofa, listening to his mum clinking dishes and muttering under her breath in the kitchen, the smell of rosemary and lemon had filled the house. Charlie closed his eyes and listened. After a moment he heard someone come in and sit down so he opened one eye. His Dad sat across from him smiling.

 

“It’s alright, I spend most of my weekend sleeping too. Especially when your mother keeps on feeding me.” Arthur spoke softly and leant back in his chair, opening a Muggle catalogue for tools that he seemed to find endlessly fascinating.

 

Charlie smiled and shut his eye again, “M’not sleeping Dad, just resting my eyes.”

 

Arthur chuckled, “That’s my boy.”

 

It was quiet in the room, Charlie kept his eyes shut but said “Dad?”

 

“Mmmmm?” Arthur replied.

 

“Sorry I’ve not been round before now.”

 

“That's okay my boy, busy lad aren’t you? Even seeing you once a month is better than we’re used to. ” Arthur said without an ounce of malice.

 

Charlie opened his eyes and watched his Dad across from him, still supposedly reading the catalogue. He wanted to tell him.

 

“The thing is I’ve met someone.” Charlie said, his voice practically a whisper. “And she’s incredible. Dad, she’s like something I’ve been waiting for but I didn’t know it yet.”

 

He saw his Dad smile, his green eyes crinkled as they looked up. “Happens to the best of us.” Warmth shone through his face.

 

“The thing is, it’s not the best timing and there are...well it’s a little complicated.” Charlie said, thinking of Ron.

 

“Charlie.” His Dad put the catalogue to one side. “You have never, ever told me about anyone you’ve been dating...or even, well, the hanky panky you get up to.”

 

Charlie couldn’t help but chuckle, “Hanky panky Dad?”

 

“Yes, that’s what I said and I’m sticking with it.” Arthur said, quite serious. “My point is, the fact you’re even telling me you’ve met someone is quite miraculous. I usually know more about your dragons than any other human in your life.”

 

“This one might even be better than dragons.”

 

Arthur sat forward a little eyes wide, “Better than dragons eh? Now this is serious.” He winked. “Charlie, you know that I don’t care how you live your life. You’re a good lad and I’m always proud of you, always.” He spoke so earnestly, in a way that always seemed effortless for his Father. “I’ve often suspected than when you eventually fell for someone you’d fall hard. You’ll do what is right, of that I’m sure. ”

 

“Thanks Dad.” Charlie said, something in him had settled a little from his Dad’s words.

 

Arthur stood up and gripped Charlie’s shoulder,

 

“Just don’t tell your Mother until you sure.” Arthur whispered, and with that he wandered off into the kitchen humming to himself.

  
All of a sudden, the old brick fireplace whooshed to life and Ron stumbled through. He shook himself and went over to Mum. He looked good Charlie noticed, thanking Merlin and Morgana that his little brother seemed perfectly happy. Ron smiled widely when he spotted him and walked over for a hug, “Hiya Charlie.”

“You look good little brother, Aurors must be keeping you fit.” Charlie replied.

 

“Ha, yeah they bloody do, I’m exhausted half the time. It’s all good though, how’s life back home treating you? Charlie Weasley living in Great Britain, never thought we’d see the day!”

 

Charlie laughed, “It’s been good, the new parts of the reserve look great and it’s been nice staying at Grimmauld.”

 

“Yeah? Well I’m glad. Listen, sorry I haven’t been to see you there.” He lowered his voice a little, “I’m kind of seeing someone, don’t say anything like, it’s early days but she keeps me pretty busy.” He grinned.

 

Charlie’s heart leapt, “Oh yeah, that’s great Ron, don’t worry about it mate.”

 

“I don’t go round Grimmauld too much if I can help it to be honest. I don’t want Hermione to feel like I’m invading her space ya know? I know I wouldn’t want her barging into my flat every other day.” Ron said.

 

“Yeah, sure.” Charlie muttered cautiously. “Err, you and her though, you’re alright now aren’t you? I mean she’s coming here today you know.”

 

“Oh yeah, we’re fine. I guess it’s still a little awkward sometimes. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a great time since we split up. I mean really, really great. I’m not pining after her or anything.”

 

Charlie waited, he could sense more coming.

 

“It’s just, when I see her sometimes I can’t help but think it would have been nice if it had worked out. But then I remember why it didn’t.” Ron lowered his voice again, looking around and whispering, “Really though, don’t say anything about me seeing someone, don’t want to hurt her feelings. Is she doing alright, do you see much of her?”

 

“She seems great Ron, really happy.” Charlie replied, at least knowing that much was true.

 

“Harry says she’s still single though?”

 

“Well, I don’t know about that, that’s her business isn’t it.” Charlie risked another remark. “Woman like her won’t be single for long though Ron.”

 

Ron just nodded his head and Charlie got up for a drink before he could think too much on it.

 

As he came into the kitchen he heard the fireplace whoosh to life again and Ginny came through, followed quickly by Harry. Charlie leant casually against the kitchen counter, listening to the greetings around him as he waited for his witch. She came through seconds later and he felt his body relax.

 

She looked beautiful, even more so than usual he thought. He wanted to go to her straight away but was caught up saying hello to Harry and Gin first. When he finally stood in front of her he grinned, she’d put on a pretty dress, white with blue flowers sprinkled around it. It looked like a summer dress but she’d put a chunky blue cardigan over the top which had done nothing to hide the way the dress dipped to reveal her breasts, pushed up against the fabric.

 

She caught him looking and something sparked in her eyes when he met her gaze again.

 

“Hi Charlie” she said, voice low. It was enough for him to want to take her out of the kitchen, away from prying eyes so he could say hello to her properly.

 

“Hermione.” He said and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close for a moment so he could kiss her cheek. He felt her hand trail down his arm as he let go and for a moment she squeezed his fingers. Then she was gone, saying hello to everyone else.

 

Across the kitchen Charlie saw Bill watching him carefully, questions in his eyes. Him and Ginny were far too observant, thank Merlin that had never been passed onto Ron.

 

Dinner was busy and noisy, the twins arrived just as everyone was sitting down and Charlie allowed himself to be caught up in the contentment that only Sunday dinner at home could bring. Fred had sat down and immediately began levitating Yorkshire puddings for Victorie’s amusement. Molly ultimately had to put a stop to it when George stood on his chair trying to take bites out of the hovering food whilst holding onto the gravy jug.

 

Mum finally got everyone sat down with plates full. He hoped she’d got all her questioning out of the way last night, she’d gone on again about his tattoos, asked him why he hadn’t moved into The Burrow while he was home, if he was seeing anyone and then told him about several eligible witches and wizards she knew. He thought he should be safe through the meal. He tucked into his lunch with gusto when he suddenly heard her pipe up; when he heard who she was directing it at the food dropped off his fork.

 

“Hermione dear you really do look lovely today. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look quite so happy. Have you got someone new in your life?” Molly spoke up from the end of the table, conversation was going on all around him but he looked over and saw Hermione with a blush starting on her cheeks.

 

“Uh no Molly, afraid not.” She stammered slightly as she spoke.

 

“Well dear, something must have caused that smile you’ve had on all morning. I’ve always said you’re too pretty a girl to have been single all this time.”

 

Charlie could see Ron was looking at Hermione now, eyes narrowed slightly as if trying to see what Molly was seeing.

 

“Nothing different here Molly.” Hermione looked down at her plate as she spoke, “I think these roasties are some of your best.”

 

“Thank you dear.” Molly looked quite happy at that but it didn’t stop her. “Radiant is the word for you, absolutely radiant!”

 

“Leave her alone Mum.” Ginny said, flashing a quick look at Charlie.

 

“Am I not allowed to say how nice she looks?” Molly exclaimed, “I just thought there might have been a reason for the glow.”

 

“She’s been out on the reserve with me this week Mum.” Charlie spoke up at the same moment conversation stopped and everyone started listening. “It’s the fresh air...that’s why I always look so good.” He grinned at his Mum, hoping to divert her attention.

 

“Charles.” Molly smiled at him, fondly.

 

“Weathered is the word you’re looking for Charlie.” Fred shouted up with a mouthful of peas.

 

Yeah, like an ancient slab of rock.” George took over.

 

“At least Charlie sees daylight.” Molly pointed her fork at Fred and George, “All that time you boys spend in that shop, you need to get out more.”

 

“Oh we get out plenty Mother.” George said.

 

“Just not in the daylight hours.” Fred winked at her and Molly snapped her eyes shut.

 

Charlie heard Ron snort out a laugh and saw he had stared tucking into his food again, unconcerned.

 

Chatter started up around them again and he looked up to see Hermione flash him a quick smile, he watched her for a moment, wishing he could tell everyone why she really looked so happy. Then his gaze caught on Bill, sat across from him, leaning back in his chair with his drink just watching. He raised an eyebrow at him and Charlie just shrugged, he mouthed the word ‘later’ at him and Bill thankfully carried on eating.

 

~~~

 

Thankfully dinner passed without any comments on Charlie’s potential dating partners or Hermione’s radiance. Charlie helped his mum clear up the kitchen but when he’d finished and looked around room he realised Hermione wasn’t there; Ron and Dad were snoozing on the sofa, Harry, Ginny and the twins had gone off to fly around the meadow and Bill and Fleur were out in garden, entertaining Victoire with the gnomes. He quietly stepped out of the room and began a hunt through the house, starting in Ginny’s room where she always slept when she was here. Ginny’s room was empty and he had a feeling that he knew exactly where she would be.

 

He started up the narrow staircase to his old bedroom. Climbing the creaky wooden stairs he could see that his bedroom door was slightly open, he reached the top of the stairs and pushed it open further. The first thing he spotted were her curls, she had her back to the door and looked over her shoulder, no doubt confirming it was him. In her hands was one of his old Quidditch jerseys and Charlie watched as she ran the material through her hands. “Hello there.” She said softly.

 

“Hi” he replied, “Thought I might find you hiding in here.” He shut the door behind him and she walked over to him. She stepped right in front of him and went up on her tiptoes to kiss him. It had been hours since he’d last kissed her but it felt like it had been weeks. He was jealous of Bill and Fleur and Harry and Ginny, of every casual touch and kiss they were able to give when he had to keep his distance. Watching Hermione over dinner had been a sweet kind of torture. Mum hadn’t been wrong, she did look good, eyes lit up and face glowing and holding her now Charlie felt a flare of hope that it was because of him.

 

They kissed, mouths moving slowly and she whispered against his lips, “I missed you last night.”

 

“Hmmm, I missed you too.” His hands had wandered down to the curve of her bum and he ran a hand over her round cheeks. “It’s driven me crazy sitting across from you and not being able to touch you, especially in this gorgeous little dress.”

 

“Oh this old thing, it’s just something I threw on.” She murmured with a smile in her voice. “And you can touch me now Charlie.”

 

Her voice was low and her brown eyes danced with desire as he caught onto her words.

 

“Here, now?” Charlie looked around his childhood bedroom as he considered the practicalities. She pressed forward so her curves moulded against his body and he decided he didn’t give a damn where she wanted it; he’d give her anything she asked. “I haven’t got my wand so you’ll have to be quiet...and quick...ish.” He leant over her and kissed her neck in the spot he’d learnt that drove her crazy and she moaned, “I said quiet treasure.”

 

Charlie slid the cardigan from her shoulders and moved his hands back to cup her breasts, flicking over her nipples through the dress. Without the cardigan he could see that the dress really didn’t cover much at all and the curves of the top of her breasts rose above the neckline. He danced fingers across them and she pushed her chest out against his eager hands while her hands came up to grasp the tops of his arms. He looked at her face and could see she’d bit her lip. He ran a thumb roughly over her nipple again and she gasped, teeth releasing her plump bottom lip as she did. He leant forward and kissed her again, teasing that lip with his tongue and running his hands under her dress to find the lace of her knickers barely covering her round arse. Hermione’s hand darted between them, running over the front of his jeans where he was already rigid. She stopped when she felt him and pushed her palm flat against him; Charlie stifled his groan with some effort. His own hands still moved restlessly over her curves and he wished they were back in his room at Grimmauld where he could really make her moan.    

 

Instead he walked forward, moving her with him over to the little bed, hoping to Godric that it would support them both as took off his t-shirt. She started to undo his jeans, pulling them down just below his arse, his cocked bobbed out and before he knew what was happening she had pushed him backwards on the bed. The little frame creaked with the weight of his fall and they both stopped for a minute, listening. She giggled slightly then reached under her dress to take off her knickers. That move alone had his cock aching for more attention.

 

Hermione walked to the side of him and climbed on top, straddling him as she rubbed herself up and down his bare cock. This time he couldn’t stop the noise that came out of him, he moaned as he felt her wetness gliding over him and her eyes sparked with amusement.

 

“Not so easy is it Charlie.” She whispered, bending down to kiss him deeply as she moved on him.

 

He moved a hand down, gritting his teeth together to stop more noises as he felt her. She was already soaked but he eased a finger into her checking she was ready. His cock jumped up between them and she clenched around his finger. Hermione grabbed his wrist, pulling him out of her and quickly moved her hand around his cock, manoeuvring them both so he could feel the tip of him just about to push into her. He thought his eyes might have rolled back into his head; the first time she was going to ride him and it had to be here, in his tiny, old bedroom with the hopes that no one would hear them. Still, he wasn’t about to tell her to stop.

 

Hermione lowered onto him, slowly, her mouth formed in a little round 'o' as she moved down his aching length. She reached the end of him and Charlie lifted his arms above his head to grip the headboard. He honestly thought it might snap he was holding on that hard but he managed not to make a sound as she placed her small hands on his chest. She moved slowly off him, lifting her hips up and then slammed back down, she was quiet but her mouth was open and breathing ragged. The bed mercifully wasn’t making noise as she moved on him and Charlie was feeling surprisingly in control. That was until she started rolling her hips, the sensation making his jaw clench as he watched her; her skirt was bunched up around the tops of her thighs and her breasts were threatening to spill over the top of the little dress. She was flushed and her eyes were shut as she concentrated on her movements

 

She was driving him crazy and she carried on, moving up and down the length of him and Charlie could see her breath coming faster now, caramel curls bouncing around her. She opened her eyes lazily, giving him a half smile when he caught her eye but she didn’t stop. She shifted on him again and must have found a good angle as she moved harder on him now, hips slamming up and down, using his cock just as she wanted it.

 

“Fuck.” Charlie breathed out, he’d planned to say more but words escaped him.

 

He let go of the head board, one large hand wrapping round her hip, helping her move on him and the other going under her skirt, reaching between her legs and pressing on her clit. Hermione moaned louder then but he found he didn’t care about the noise right now as her walls instantly tightened around his cock. She moved in a deep rhythm that was going to send him over the edge any second. Charlie fought against the urge to slam up into her and just kept the pressure up on her clit, his fingers were digging into her arse as he held onto her, internally begging her to come soon. He felt her pace change and she slammed down hard so he was right at the end of her. He watched as she opened her mouth with a silent scream and he felt her shudder all over. Her own orgasm set his off, she pulsed on his cock and he held onto her hips as his arse lifted off the bed, pounding up into her as he came deep inside her. Every time with her felt like it was the most intense orgasm he’d ever had and every time with her was turning his world upside down.

 

He heard Hermione sigh and she leaned forward; hair tickling his chest as she kissed him and he started to come back into his senses. Gods, he had no idea if they’d stayed quiet at the end, this witch was making him lose his mind.

 

Hermione lifted off him and smiled almost bashfully, she was so fucking gorgeous. He didn’t think she really believed how gorgeous she was. Charlie hiked his jeans back up and sat up; grabbing her hand he pulled so she sat back down on his knee. She laughed brilliantly.

 

“You’re so beautiful love.” Charlie said, looking her straight in the eye. She smiled but her gaze dropped. “Hey, I mean it, will you look at me?”

 

She looked up at him them, face suddenly quite serious, “You’re gods damned beautiful Hermione.” He repeated.

 

“Charlie.” She shook her head, “You don’t have to say those things to me, we aren’t a couple.”

 

“So what?” Charlie said, “Doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”

 

She shook her head again, “I just mean you don’t have to woo me, what we have already is just fine.”

 

Charlie felt flash of annoyance at that, what he felt for her was so far beyond ‘just fine.’

 

“Hermione.” He growled out her name, “You must know that I think you’re beautiful, I can’t keep away from you and I want to tell you, I think also you know that whatever this is between us is so much more than just fine.”

 

She looked at him then, eyes big, “You’re right, that was a bad choice of words. Still, I’m trying to explain that, urgh...I can’t find the right words.” She stood up. “Whatever this is between us is amazing...but you don’t have to act like a boyfriend, I don’t expect anything more from you.” She was smiling at him as if she was doing him a favour.

 

Charlie stared at her in disbelief; this must be karma he thought, all those times he kept his relationships casual, all those times he longed to hear those words and now he was hearing them from the lips of the one woman he actually longed to be with. Hermione didn’t seem to notice how stunned he was and gave him a quick peck on the mouth.

 

“Anyway, we’d best go back down before we’re missed.” She said and she passed Charlie his shirt without looking his way.

 

~~~

 

Hermione left The Burrow with Harry and Ginny but Charlie hung back hoping to catch a chat with Bill before he left. In the end Bill found him.

 

“Fancy a walk Charles?” Bill said, throwing an arm around Charlie’s shoulder as they headed out into the garden. The sun was low in the sky and they headed out of the gate at the end of the patch of wild grass that the Weasleys called their lawn. Charlie wasn’t sure where to start.

 

“You going to tell me what’s going on.” Bill spoke softly as they walked towards the fields surrounding the house.

 

“I’d be surprised if you didn’t know.” Charlie replied.

 

“Hermione? My hearing is pretty good these days...even when you’re a few floors up.” He winked.

 

Charlie ran a hand over his face, “I don’t know what to do Bill.”

 

“Didn’t sound that way to me.”

 

Charlie couldn’t help but laugh. “Come on, you know this isn’t just about shagging.”

 

Bill raised an eyebrow at that, “Oh, do I?”

 

“Bill!”

 

“Yeah, I guessed you wouldn’t be ‘just shagging’ with Hermione Granger, friend of the family and ex of our little brother.” Charlie winced but Bill carried on “For the record, I always thought she kind of liked you.”

 

“Yeah, me too, turns out she did and I like her...a lot.” Charlie stopped walking for a minute. “I’m crazy about her Bill but she told me straight off she doesn’t want a boyfriend, which is usually all I want to hear but then...I dunno, something is different with her”

 

He saw Bill glance at him but he was still smiling, “Someone was bound to tame you at some point.”

 

“Hmmm.” Charlie started walking again and Bill followed. “I just don’t know what my next move should be. I’m worried I’m going to scare her off but...” Charlie was quiet for a moment, knowing what he had to run by Bill but knowing it was going to really show his hand. He took a deep breath, “I’ve been offered a job here, full time on the Welsh reserve.”

 

“That’s happened before Charlie.” Bill replied smoothly.

 

“Yep. I never thought I’d take it though.”

 

Bill looked at him sharply, “You’re that serious then, about Hermione?”

 

Charlie nodded, “I feel like I have to give it a chance, if she’ll let me. What do you think?”

 

“Bloody hell, looks like mum was right. All these years she’s being trying to set you up with someone to get you to move home and the right person was under our noses all the time!” Bill didn’t look quite as shocked as his voice was.

 

“You can’t tell anyone about the job Bill, definitely not Mum, not even Fleur. Hermione doesn’t even know yet. I’ve got to go back to Romania this week and I’ll tell her when I get back. Need to give her a bit of space I think before I drop that on her. It’ll clear both our heads, I can’t think straight when she’s around.”

 

“Seems like you were doing alright up in your room.” Bill smirked and Charlie gave him a playful shove.

 

“Yeah well that side of things are just about perfect. It’s convincing her to give it a proper go I’m worried about, it seems quick and she might just run a mile, especially if I tell her I want to move back here permanently but I can’t pretend I just want this to be casual anymore. The thought of not being with her is...” he shook his head. “I can’t even explain it. The weeks away in Romania are looking so unappealing right now.”

 

Bill shrugged, “When it’s right it’s right. For the record it sounds like you’re got the right idea Charlie. You should tell her something before you go though, you don’t have to tell her about the job but at least tell her you want more and then you’ve both got chance to think it over. You’ll know for sure then and she’ll likely know too.”

 

“I know for sure now Bill, that’s the trouble.”

 

 “Yeah, I can see that.” Bill sighed, “It was the same with me and Fleur, I knew right away she was for me. She didn’t half make me work for it though.”

 

“I have a feeling Hermione is going to be the same.” Charlie muttered, thinking back to their conversation upstairs.

 

“Yeah well she’s only ever known you as a bit of a heartbreaker, she might need to be convinced that you’re really hers. You need to start showing her that as soon as possible.”

 

“I know, I did try.” Charlie looked out over the green fields surrounding The Burrow. He knew this whole situation was going to be difficult. “Thanks Bill, I really appreciate the chat. I don’t know whether to have a word with Ron now, maybe just plant the seed that I like her?”

 

“Nah, just tell him when you and Hermione have got it sorted. He’s not going to be happy however you do it so best to sort you two out first before bringing him into the mix. You might want to have a chat to Ginny too, pretty sure she knows there is something going on.”

 

“Yeah I spotted that too. I’ll speak to her tonight and then I guess I’ll have to have a proper chat with Hermione.”

 

Bill slapped his shoulder, “Don’t sound too happy about it will you.”

 

Charlie grimaced, “I’m worried I’m going to ruin everything.”

 

“Just tell her how you feel, be honest...that’s all you can do, the rest is up to her.” Bill said.

 

They turned around and started heading back to The Burrow, Charlie lost in his thoughts now, thinking of all he wanted say when he got back to Hermione.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still here!! I'm sorry for the little break but I just wasn't feeling the writing and I was getting annoyed with myself staring at the screen for hours and writing five words. Anyway, back again and hopefully back on track!

Charlie got back to Grimmauld Place later that night. His Mum had packed him off with a tray of leftovers from the roast dinner and, inexplicably, what felt like a massive stack of cheese and pickle sandwiches, wrapped up in tin foil. He dumped his stuff in the hall and went to put the leftovers in the kitchen checking a few of the rooms he passed on the way.

 

He knew he had to tell Hermione he was going to Romania; he needed to do it before he chickened out. She was nowhere to be seen downstairs in the big house. Harry was in the library, typing on an old typewriter while a golden snitch whizzed around his head and he found Ginny in the kitchen, her broom and servicing kit spread out on the table.

 

“Hi Gin.” Charlie said as he opened the fridge to store the parcels of food.

 

“Hi, Mum let you escape then? I thought she might try and convince you to stay another night?” Ginny barely looked up, her eyebrows were furrowed as she worked a stubborn looking splinter out of the handle of the broomstick.

 

“She did try, I just needed to get back here.” Charlie pulled out a chair and sat down opposite his sister. He would smell the beeswax that Ginny had open on the table, the smell making him think of Hogwarts in a reassuring way.

 

Ginny flashed him a look and nodded, she always knew everything.

 

“Is Hermione about?” he asked her.

 

“She’s upstairs taking a bath.” She spoke to him but her eyes were fixed on the handle of her broom while she tweezed out the loose splinters.

 

“Can I talk to you about something?”

 

“Always.”

 

“You know what’s going on right?” Charlie said, watching her as she still refused to look up.

 

“I’m afraid you’ll have to be more specific Charles.” Ginny replied but had her tongue stuck out now in concentration.

 

“With me and Hermione?” Charlie could hear the annoyance in his voice.

 

“Again, what exactly are you talking about? Your work together on the dragon reserve or...”

 

“Merlin, can’t you give me a break. I know you know alright.” Charlie finally snapped.

 

Ginny grinned wickedly finally looking up, “But this is so much fun. Yes of course I know, I’m not stupid. I saw it before she did.”

 

“Saw what?”

 

“That you’re crazy about her.” Ginny raised an eyebrow at him as if daring him to deny it.

 

“Right.” Charlie had no response to that so he carried on. This conversation was slightly more awkward than it had been with Bill, “So, she’s told me she just wants fun, casual type thing. Does she not date?”

 

“Shouldn’t you be asking her this Charlie?” Ginny said but there wasn’t much fire behind it.

 

“Ginny, please help me out. I’m just trying to sort some stuff out.”

 

“What stuff?”

 

“I can’t tell you until I’ve told her.” Ginny sat back, her broomstick forgotten and watched him sharply. Charlie sighed, knowing he’d have to give her more. “I really like her alright, I don’t want this to be just casual but I don’t want to frighten her off either.”

 

Ginny sighed and she leaned over the table and gave him quite a scary look, “I know you don’t know her as well as me but still, you have to see that Hermione isn’t the casual type. It’s something she tells herself to stop her getting hurt. She’s had a few encounters with men, it never lasts long. Honestly, I think she just lost her confidence over the years.”

 

“Why? She never seemed to hold back when she was younger.” Charlie remembered a teenage Hermione with such fire in her eyes and opinions on everything, she had certainly mellowed but he wasn’t sure he saw her as unconfident.

 

“I know you were here for a bit following the war but you missed a lot of the crazy press she got...and not just Hermione, they all came in for it. It was worse when they tried to get stuck into work and normal lives, they’d say one thing assertive and it’s all over the press that they’re using their name to get ahead. The Daily Prophet used to keep track of what happened in their jobs and would pull apart anything that looked life favouritism. Anytime they spent with another witch or wizard was always dissected and that person would be pulled apart. It’s got to all of them, even Ron. Honestly there have been some really nasty headlines over the years.”

 

“I didn’t see any of that,” Charlie said, “to be honest I’ve always avoided the Prophet.”

 

“Yeah well it wasn’t easy, not for me and Harry and not for Ron and Hermione. It knocked us all back but especially Hermione. She struggled after the war, the press had projected this image of the perfect golden trio and I think Hermione felt like she had to live up to it. In the end she’s just kept her head down and not rocked the boat.”

 

Charlie shook his head, “Is that why she didn’t fight more for the dragon reserve job she wanted.”

 

“I think so.” Ginny said softly. “If it helps I’ve seen a bit of that old Hermione fire back this week”

 

“Yeah?” Charlie asked and Ginny nodded back at him.

 

“We’ve not really talked about you, I mean I don’t want to hear all the details of what you two get up too.” Ginny smirked a bit, “but I know she likes you, it’s written all over her face.. Plus she’s been half in love with you for years.”

 

“How...how do you know that?” Charlie spluttered.

 

“Because I was the same...with Harry. Except for some reason she’s got it into her head that she’s never going to have that, I think she’s convinced herself she doesn’t want it. Probably because Ron and her didn’t work out, I reckon she’d always imagined they’d be perfect together and when she realised they weren’t...I don’t know. She used to be such a romantic but she’s certain she’s never going to get the happy ever after ending.”

 

Charlie sat for a moment, mulling over Ginny’s words. He traced his hands absently over the grain in the wooden table, thinking about how best to broach this with Hermione. His best bet was always going to be being upfront and honest. It could be so hard to tell what Hermione was thinking and he thought that maybe she was hiding the truth from even herself.

 

“Charlie.” Ginny sang out, bringing his attention back to her. He saw the big grin on her face. “You want the happy ending?”

 

The fact that this conversation didn’t terrify him was as much as he needed and a small smile broke across his face.

 

“Eeeeek!” Ginny squealed and ran round the table to hug him. He let her hug him but then pushed her gently back. “Wait, does this mean you’re moving back home? Properly? Forever?”

 

He shrugged at that, not wanting to get her hopes up, “I don’t know about any of that Gin, not yet. Listen, I don’t really know how Hermione feels and I have to go back to Romania for a week or two so I just want to chat to her first, let her know where I’m at.” He fixed her with a serious stare. Ginny was practically bouncing, the biggest smile on her face as she clapped her hands together. “Ginny! You need to calm it down.”

 

“Yep, ok...calm.” Ginny tried to fix a sober expression on her face. She managed about five seconds before she squealed again. This time Charlie laughed along with her, he couldn’t help but hope this would all work out in the end. It had to didn’t it? He couldn’t imagine what he was going to do if Hermione walked away.

 

Footsteps sounded down the hall and the bushy tail of Crookshanks bristled past him and Ginny just before Hermione walked into the kitchen. Her hair was piled up in a messy bun on her head and she was in bare feet and that silky dressing gown from the other morning. The scent of her jasmine bubble bath trailed into the kitchen with her and for a moment Charlie wished he could just ignore his feelings and carry on with what they were doing. He could happily take her back up to his room right now and put off this conversation. Surely it wouldn’t be that hard to carry on this casual arrangement.

 

Hermione chose that moment to smile at him and he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to hide the way he felt for any longer.

 

Charlie tore his gaze away only to spot Ginny, still smiling at him as she danced on the spot.

 

“What’s going on?” Hermione asked looking between the siblings. Ginny was doing absolutey nothing to hide her excitement. Charlie felt a momentary panic and he looked pleadingly at her, willing her to play it cool.

 

“Charlie has just said he’ll take me out flying over the reserve.” Ginny said quickly, a big grin on her face. “I’m just so happy about it. Really, really happy.”

 

“Okay.” Hermione said, looking at Charlie as he leant back in the chair, feigning a calm he didn’t quite feel.

 

“Well, I’m off to bed, see you tomorrow.” Ginny announced, flicking her wand to clear the table. The broom servicing kit fell back neatly into the tin and her broom flew into her waiting hand.

 

“Ginny, it’s half past seven, since when do you go to bed so early?” Hermione watched her, and Charlie could see her eyes narrowing.

 

“It’s been a busy day. I’ve got early training tomorrow.” Ginny replied, nearly out the door before she winked and said, “Don’t tell me you two don’t want some alone time.” She ran off and they could hear her laughter echoing down the hall.

 

Hermione turned with a look of horror. Charlie got out of his chair and moved towards her.

 

“Don’t look so worried Hermione. I figured she knew about us, if you hadn’t told her it wouldn’t have been long before she figured it out.” He rubbed his hands along her shoulders as he spoke, seeing her brown eyes filled with anxiety. “I kinda told Bill anyway.”

 

“For the record, I didn’t exactly tell Ginny, she ambushed me!” Hermione said, “And now Bill knows too, I should of known. There is no way we’re going to be able to keep this quiet.”

 

“Is that such a bad thing?” Charlie said, knowing they were edging closer to the conversation he was both dreading and desperate for.

 

“Charlie.” Hermione sighed out his name, “this casual thing just won’t work if everyone knows.”

 

Charlie took a deep breath. He knew exactly what he wanted to say but he frowned trying to figure out the best way to put it to her. He held her hands in his, warm and safe, “What if it isn’t such a casual thing?”

 

He felt her freeze, her whole body had tensed up and his heart sank as he could see panic flare across her face. She looked down at their joined hands and minutes passed, still she didn’t say anything. Charlie wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or not but eventually he couldn't take any more.

 

“Let me put the kettle on and we’ll talk alright? Just sit down, stay with me and talk.” Charlie kept his voice low and soothing like when he was talking to a skittish animal. He gripped her hands tightly; worried she was going to bolt.

 

“Sorry, yes, let's sit down and have a brew.” Hermione’s words sounded forced but she sat down and Charlie busied around the kitchen, getting out her favourite stoneware mug and making her tea just how she liked it. They said nothing to each other as he set the tea in front of her and took a seat himself.

 

“So” Charlie started, “I’m just going to have to say this.”

 

Hermione let a small smile at that, “As if I’d expect anything else from you.”

 

He was relieved to hear her sounding a little more like herself and for a moment he felt it would all be ok. He ruffled his hair with a large hand and took another deep breath.

 

“Right, let’s start with this. I’m going back to Romania on Tuesday, just for a couple of weeks to help bring the dragons over. I want to be part of the flying team and make sure it all goes smoothly, I hope to be back here by the end of the month.” Charlie didn’t take his eyes of her as he spoke, he watched her carefully and didn’t think he imagined the disappointment flash across her face.

 

“Alright.” Hermione ventured. She looked at him for more and luckily he had loads more he needed to say to her.

 

“I thought going back to Romania would be something to really look forward to. It’s always felt like home to me but this time it’s not quite the same. I’ve never once not been looking forward to getting back there.” Charlie paused, looking at her. “This time I’m torn, there is a part of me, a big part of me that doesn’t want to go. All I can think is that I don’t want to leave you and I’ve never felt like that before Hermione, about anyone.” He paused again, waiting. Her brow was furrowed as if she was trying to work a difficult equation out, he could practically hear her mind working. “I was thinking that while I’m away it would give you chance to think about us and when I’m back maybe we could do this properly, and tell people and for it not to be such a casual thing.” He sat back a little and sipped his tea, waiting for her. “You’ll have to give me something soon treasure.” He spoke softly and smiled.

 

“Oh Charlie, truthfully I don’t really know what to say to that.” her expression was open and he knew he hadn’t totally lost her yet.

 

“Say yes.” he answered quickly.

 

“I would love to.” She replied earnestly.

 

“Then what’s stopping you?”

 

“Gods, so many things.” Hermione took a sip of tea, “I think part of the reason this has worked so well is that is has been casual, it’s been fun and we’ve not had to worry about other people or how to turn it into a proper relationship. I meant it when I said I didn’t want a boyfriend Charlie, I don’t have the time, I work a lot. I like my own space and independence, I don’t think I’m the settling down kind. I didn’t think you were either!”

 

He knew his previous unattached status was going to cause problems. “Hermione you must feel that this is different.”

 

“Of course, the last few days have been wonderful. But amazing sex doesn’t mean an amazing relationship, we don’t really know all that much about each other.”

 

“That’s exactly what dating is for!” Charlie said, his voice came out louder than he intended.

 

“Don’t get mad at me, I told you all this from the start!” Hermione answered back just as loud.

 

“I’m not mad at you...” Charlie was aware he was nearly shouting now but couldn’t stop, “I just want you to give this a fucking chance.”

 

“Why can’t we just keep doing what we’re doing?” She fired back at him, “Things have been great, why change that?”

 

“Because I want more, I’m not asking for us to get married or anything. I just want...Merlin I want us to be a proper couple.” He stood up, and his chair went flying carelessly behind him, he leant over the table, hands flat on the wood. “I want us to give it a real go. I want to take you out, just us two and to go away with you. I want to be with you and not have to hide it. I hate that I can’t kiss you or touch you when we’re out in public, I hate that I can’t hold your hand and tell everyone we’re together.”

 

“So you just want everyone to know you’ve bagged Hermione Granger.” She interrupted him, the words flew out of her then she instantly looked shocked, as if she didn’t know where they had come from.

 

He knew this wasn’t all about him but it still hurt, voice quiet he said, “You know that’s not true. I’m trying to explain how it is for me, I can’t change the way I feel.”

 

She stood up and threw up her hands, she was small but gave as good as she got, “This is what happens with proper couples Charlie, they fight and argue and say hurtful things. People always get hurt in a relationship.”

 

“No, you got hurt in a relationship. One relationship, that was over ages ago. Isn’t it time to let it go?”

 

“Because you’re such an expert Charlie. Tell me, how many times have you been in a serious relationship.” She flung the words out, eyes blazing.

 

“It only has to be right once.” he growled the words at her and she stopped, it looked as if whatever she was about to say got stuck on her tongue.

 

All the fight left her and all he could see was her sadness. She covered her face with her hands. Charlie kept his distance, not sure whether she would push him away if he tried to comfort her. After a while she muttered through her fingers, “This is really hard for me Charlie.”

 

Charlie snorted, “Yeah, believe it or not you’ve made that clear.”

 

She moved her hands away from her face, her cheeks were red and curls were tumbling free from her bun. Charlie sat down on the edge of the table and grabbed one of her hands, he didn’t know if he was doing to right thing but he pulled her to him. She looked up at him as he held onto her waist, “I’m not going to let this go treasure. You can fight all you want.”

 

“If we’d had just carried on doing what we’re doing we might have just naturally got there eventually, why do you need this now? It’s so soon.” Hermione put her hands on his chest.

 

Charlie shrugged, “I know it’s right.” Hermione rolled her eyes and he grinned, “You making this harder has just made me want it more you know.”

 

He could see her trying not to smile. “Stupid, stubborn boy. How can you be so damn cheerful after this?” She said, her fingers traced shapes on his chest as she spoke.

 

“To be honest, part of me wondered if you were just going to walk away. The fact you stayed and argued means I’ve got a chance.” He didn’t know how true that was but he could see that she liked him enough to think about it.

 

“Charlie, I really don’t know. If it ain’t broke...” she trailed off and looked at him, her brown eyes were big and wide.

 

“Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have brought this up so soon if I wasn’t going to be out of the country for two weeks. I didn’t think it would be such a surprise that I’m kind of nuts about you, I thought it was obvious that I couldn’t stay away from you.” Charlie puller her further between his legs as he spoke, her dressing gown slid softly  across her skin as he held her close. “I didn’t want to go away and not tell you how I feel.”

 

“So, when you’re back, you want an answer?” she wrinkled her nose up and he could see she was getting annoyed again.

 

“It’s not an ultimatum I just thought you could think about it while I’m away.” he spoke quickly.

 

She took a deep breath, “And what if the answer’s no.”

 

Charlie felt a pang in his chest at her words. She looked at him as if she felt the same. Her eyes gave him hope even as she tried to push him away. He shook his head, “Merlin, you’re really trying to make this difficult for me aren’t you? I told you, I don’t want an answer, we’ll just talk about it again when I’m back.”

 

“And then how long will you stay here for? How long before you get bored and fly on back to Romania? What about when all the amazing sex stops, when we’re too busy or too tired and real life has got in the way? You’ll just stick around for this quiet domestic life?”

 

“Hermione” he growled out her name and spoke without thinking, “you need to stop talking before I do something stupid like ask you to marry me, then you’d have something to really be pissed off about.”

 

She looked at him, mouth gaping. Well, he didn't know where that came from but at least he‘d shut her up. It wasn’t exactly what he had planned to say but he wouldn’t back down now. He stood up suddenly and kissed her forehead, he daren’t kiss her properly. She had no idea how hard it was to resist her and Charlie was sure if he slept with her tonight he’d just take anything she offered him; they’d be right back to where they'd started.

 

“Right, enough talking. I’m going to bed in my room and you’re going to bed in your room. I’m not risking anymore arguments tonight, you can go and mull all this over and start afresh with me in the morning if you like.”

 

He didn’t look back, he couldn’t. Charlie strolled out the kitchen calm as you like, inside his heart was thundering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was so unsure about this whole scene which is why it took me so long to update it, I think this is the best I'm going to get it though and we need to move forward...more lemons to come ;)
> 
> Also, thank you so much for all the lovely comments, they really do make my day!


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still here!

 

Hermione barely slept that night. Charlie bloody Weasley, sex god extraordinaire, had ruined everything. All she wanted was a hot love affair with a hot man and now she was feeling all sorts of things she had sworn never to feel again. She kept running his words round in her head, _‘It only has to be right once’_ she knew that, of course she did but how do you know when it’s right? She thought her and Ron had been right and look how that turned out. She felt stupid; she was sabotaging her own happiness and the worst thing was she could see herself doing it but the alternative was what, throwing her heart into another relationship?

 

Charlie hadn’t done anything wrong, she liked him, and she’d liked him for a long time. He made her laugh and he’d talk endlessly about dragons and creatures, he took an interest in her work. She looked forward to the end of the day when she could see him, butterflies erupted in her stomach everytime he threw a crooked grin her way or looked at her in a way that meant he was thinking about bending her over the nearest flat surface.

 

Hermione didn’t know what she was going to do. Trying to figure out her feelings was one thing but the thought of actually saying yes to him, then having to tell people, urgh no. She tossed and turned all night thinking of what Ron would say...and Molly...and the bloody Daily Prophet. She’d managed to keep out of that paper for so long and this would send the malicious headlines spinning again.

 

She must have eventually dosed off about four because she then fell into a really deep sleep and woke up woozy. She missed her alarm, she missed Charlie before he left for work and she ended up with five minutes to wash and dress before getting to the Ministry. She stumbled through the day in work. People spoke to her and she had no idea what she said, she filed paperwork without any awareness of what she’d done. All she could think of was the red headed dragon keeper who was making her personal life infinitely more complicated.

 

She made her way home that night keenly aware that it was Charlie's last night in the country for at least two weeks. She’d thought about what she could possibly say to him all day and still had nothing. She didn’t want to argue with him but it seemed that they were at an impasse and today had left her feeling exhausted and confused. When she got home then realised she was the only person in the big house she decided to take herself off for a long bath to try and unwind at least a little before Charlie came home.

Hermione had enjoyed her bath and was sat in her bedroom when she heard Charlie come home. She could tell his footsteps apart from the others, that and the fact he noisily said hello to Crookshanks as soon as he walked in the door. Stupid cat had taken to curling up on the stairs waiting for his return.

 

She had put on a comfy t-shirt and shorts she used for pyjamas. She’d stood up when she heard his voice and now was frozen in the middle of her room wondering what she could possibly do to appear natural, he was sure to knock on her door. She heard him walking up the stairs, grabbed a brush up off the table and held her breath. His footsteps reached the top of the stairs, and passed right by her door without a moment’s hesitation. She scowled at her door. She heard his door shut and sat down on the bed, ears straining through the silence. After a few minutes his door opened again and she waited, perched at the foot of the bed, hair brush poised to make it look as if he’d just caught her doing her hair.

 

Much to her annoyance there was no knock on the door and she heard the bathroom door close and the shower start up. 

 

She could hear him in the shower and waited, barely moving, until it stopped and his footsteps sounded across the hall. She heard his bedroom door shut again, surely he would come and seek her out now. He had to speak to her before he went to bed. She hadn’t seen him at all since he walked out of the kitchen last night.

 

She sat in the middle of her bed, in silence. The hairbrush was forgotten as she sat listening for noises in the room next door. There was nothing.  

 

In an effort to distract herself Hermione picked up a book and settled back down into bed. This was good, when he did come knocking on her door she would look casual. She settled down to read.

 

Hermione checked the clock for the millionth time, 20 minutes had passed now and he still hadn’t come to see her. In fact it had gone very quiet in his room. She put her bookmark back in the book, noting that she had no idea what she’d just read and would probably have to go back to where she started. This wouldn’t do at all, she thought, how dare he not even check if she was in her room! She silently tiptoed to her door, slowly opening it and stepping out onto the landing. She stopped and listened, no noise came from Charlie’s room and the door was closed tight.

 

She crept along the hall and waited outside his door. She daren’t even breathe as she leant closer, still all was quiet. She placed her hand on the cool metal handle and ever so slowly twisted it until it clicked and she could ease the door open. She only opened it a crack and then peeped inside the room. It was dark, a faint glow coming from the window and as she stood at the door her eyes started to adjust to the gloom. She could see the shape of Charlie on the bed; he was on his side, one muscled arm spread out across the sheets. She could hear his steady breathing, he was asleep. She couldn’t believe he’d fallen asleep without even coming to see her. She felt a flash on annoyance at his arrogance but then she watched him as he slept. He looked so peaceful and thinking of the lack of sleep she had last night made her realise he might be just as shattered too. 

 

Gods, this man was messing with her head. At least she seemed to be doing the same to him.

 

She moved into the room and quietly shut the door behind her moving closer to the bed and finding that the sight of a sleeping Charlie Weasley was enough to twist at something in her stomach.  He was bare-chested, maybe more of him was bare too but his bottom half was covered by the sheet. Her eyes traced over his muscles, the tattoos she knew so well now, his strong jawline and full lips, parted slightly in his sleep. His hair fanned out slightly on the pillow but even in the gloom she could make out the red curls. She took a deep breath in, it would be all too easy to fall for him. 

 

Hermione thought about leaving the room. Watching him like this was dangerous but then the thought of going back to her bed alone, knowing he was in here, was nearly unbearable. She was already facing two weeks without him, who knew what would happen when he got back. She didn’t want him to leave without…without, she couldn’t be sure what it was she wanted. All she knew right now was that she didn’t want to leave this room tonight.

 

Taking a gamble she stripped off her T-shirt and shorts and carefully climbed into bed next to him.  

 

She lay down slowly and scooted over so she could rest her head on his arm. When she was right in front of him, she looked over at his face and saw his eyes lazily watching her.

 

“Hi.” Hermione breathed out, no idea if he would actually be happy to find her naked in his bed after their conversation last night.

 

“Hi.” he replied and smiled sleepily. A rough hand reached out and ran down her side, sending tingles shooting out from wherever he touched. “Took you long enough to decide to get in this bed.”

 

“You knew I was here all this time!” Hermione gasped. She tried to move back but he held onto her, one large hand wrapping around her hip and pulling her closer. 

 

“That depends, how long were you watching me for?” His voice was coarse with sleep and she could feel the warmth coming from him. Her body just wanted to nestle in closer but she still couldn’t help feeling like a fool, standing there gawking at the man and he knew all along.

 

“Charlie Weasley” she started scolding when he interrupted her.

 

“Ah, I’m sorry treasure, don’t be angry…I didn’t want to frighten you off.” He moved closer and brought her very naked body up against his own. She heard a low rumble escape him as her breasts brushed up against his chest. “Please stay.” He said gruffly just before he leant forward to brush his lips along her neck.

 

She felt her body relax against his but still said, “I’ll do as I please.”

 

She felt his grin against her neck. “Don’t I bloody know it!” he replied dryly.

 

Instead of replying Hermione ran her hands up his arms which were now wrapped tightly around her body. Her fingers felt out the warm muscles as she moved up to his neck and buried her fingers in his soft hair. He breathed out, his breath ghosting on her neck making her tingle all over. Her body arched into him and his hands stroked long lines up and down her bare back. It made her shiver and press her body even closer against his. He dropped another kiss on her neck and she felt it deep within her.

 

“Charlie?” she whispered, right by his ear.

 

“Hmm?” He replied, voice muffled against her neck.

 

“I don’t know what to do.” She said the words, thinking of all he had said last night and all the things she had to decide in the next two weeks.

 

“I know you don’t love but you will. I don’t want to fight, don’t worry about it tonight,” he murmured, “just stay here.”

 

She felt his lips touch hers. His arms tightened, circling her waist, holding her in place as his tongue brushed up against hers. He made a low sound and his tongue swept into her mouth. It had been nearly a day since she’d kissed him like this and she’d missed it. Everytime he kissed her it felt special, like he was worshipping her. How would she feel after two weeks without this? If she thought about him going her stomach dropped...then she thought about telling people they were together, about everything that they’d have to deal with and she felt sick. She had to stop, there was to be no more thinking these things, not tonight. Tonight she just wanted to enjoy what they had now.

 

Charlie kept his hands on her waist, just as he’d done the first time they kissed, as if he was happy to stay like this all night. He kissed her slowly, lazily in a way that was making her dizzy. Hermione curled her body around his, a leg hooking over his hips and her arms anchoring around his shoulders. 

 

His hands roamed down to her thigh, digging into the flesh restlessly. She could feel his cock hard against her and he was definitely naked under the sheet. His hand moved up to cup her arse and he moaned, his hips rolling forward to move against her own. Hermione heard herself whimper and Charlie stopped kissing her. He stroked lightly up her leg again and when she opened her eyes he was watching her, his eyes dark.

 

“I love it when you make those noises for me.” He said, voice low. Before Hermione could respond he kissed her again, deeply, warm lips moved against her own and she felt like she was falling. He was constantly touching her, his calloused fingers seeking out sensitive spots all over her body as if he was memorising every inch of her skin. She felt the adoration in his touch and she couldn’t help but respond to him. Her heart felt like it might beat through her chest and it was almost as if this was happening in a dream. She didn’t know what to do with the feelings rising in her so she clung onto him, holding his strong shoulders and kissed him back until each of them were breathless. 

 

She felt him grip hard again on her thigh just before he swiftly rolled on top of her. He kept most of his weight off her, his arms caged either side of her head. Instinctively her hands came up to trace his stomach, she could feel the muscles tense as he held himself above her so she reached round his back, fingers sinking lower into the firm flesh of his arse. He was looking down at her and when their eyes met he let out a crooked smile as if he knew all the things she was feeling. Her hands moved to the front of him, her fingers ghosting delicately up and down the length of him. Feeling how hard he was made her own arousal deepen, she gripped her hand around his cock and ran her thumb over the sensitive head. He swore, loudly, as his hips flew forward. Then grinned at her. She felt seductive and careless, he made her feel that way.

 

He leant down quickly and captured her mouth with his own. She was lost again in his kisses. That was until a warm hand covered her breast, and sensations spread all over her body. He ran his thumb roughly over her peaked nipple and she cried out. She felt every one of his touches right at her core. Charlie moved his hand lower, teasing her until his fingers slipped easily between her folds. He parted her and ran a finger over her clit, making her cry out even louder. His head lowered to her breast and he began sucking at her nipple. Hermione gripped his hair, pulling slightly as she felt tremors spread throughout her body. His tongue ran a slow circle over her nipple, matching the movement of his finger on her clit and Hermione felt the build up deep inside her. Her fingers left his hair, gripping instead on to his shoulders as she cried out his name and flew over the edge, hips bucking and moans escaping her as her climax hit.

 

“Merlin, Hermione...I, I,” Charlie started.

 

Hermione opened her eyes and he was looking at her intently. For a moment she was fearful of the words he would say, and yet she fought against a spark of hope that bloomed from somewhere deep inside her. He looked at her with such seriousness.

 

“I really fucking want you to say yes to this.” He said finally. “I want this, I want you...you have to believe me.”

 

Hermione let out a small smile, “I guess this turned out to be more than a bloody good shag.”

 

His face lit up as he hovered over her, “I always knew it would be more love.”

 

Emotion rose up in her and she fought to keep it at bay. Charlie moved in between her legs, nudging her thighs further apart as he did. He pushed into her slowly and Hermione couldn’t help but pulse around him, he hissed out a breath but kept moving. Hermione threw her head back and flung an arm across her eyes. The look on his face as he entered her was too jarring for her to take right now, she felt too raw.

 

“Hermione.” He growled out her name, “Look at me!”

 

She shook her head, feeling too much to be able to look at him.

 

She felt his thumb brush over her cheek and he moved her arm. She scrunched up her eyes. Charlie spoke again, more softly now, “It’s okay. Hermione, look at me.”

 

She couldn’t help it, the tenderness in his voice called to her and she fluttered her eyes open. She was rewarded with another smile before he moved further inside her again. She watched as his eyes glazed she felt the air grow thick around them. He pushed further, all the way to the very end of her and pulled back out again. His thrusts started slow, so she could feel his every movement but soon he was gliding in and out of her, moving in a steady rhythm. He watched her the whole time, his eyes giving off such heat that just his gaze made her clench around him. It all felt so good, she could feel it building again inside her. She wanted him to go faster, to take her hard and rough so they both lost control. But he didn’t. He set the pace and it was just slow enough that there was nowhere to hide. She dug her nails into his arms, his biceps were tense as he held himself above her. She glanced down quickly to see his hips expertly rolling in and out, brushing the most sensitive spot inside her with his cock. Hermione felt her orgasm approaching and she moaned out, “Charlie.” It was a plea; she was terrified she was going to lose herself to him.

 

She nearly closed her eyes but he ground out, “Don’t” just before she did. He drove into her again and again. They were both hot and sweaty, Charlie’s hair had curled and matted around his face and he was gritting his teeth as he kept up his leisurely thrusts. Hermione felt right on the edge, her hips had started moving to meet Charlie, she was matching him perfectly.

 

She looked at him one more time, their eyes met and before she could think anymore she was coming, she felt the waves of bliss overtake her body. She looked at Charlie for as long as she could until the pleasure got too much and she closed her eyes, moaning deeply. He buried himself deep inside her as she came and something inside of her shattered.

 

When she opened her eyes again he was still above her, watching her with rapt attention. She reached up to him, pulling him down onto her and kissed him with everything she had. He made a noise deep in his throat, his hips hadn’t moved but she felt his cock pulse as he came suddenly and fiercely inside of her. She wrapped her legs tightly around him and he collapsed on top of her, burying his face in her neck.

 

“Fuckin’ hell.” He muttered. Hermione was breathing so heavily she couldn’t form words but thought that was probably to best way to explain how she was feeling too.

 

Charlie rolled off her but kept an arm around her, so she moved with him and rested her cheek on his chest. She moved her fingers restlessly over him. Her pulse slowed and her breathing quietened. Sex had never felt so intimate for her before, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to put back what she’d felt just now. She felt rattled, as if she were about to cry and she thought that maybe she’d broke something inside of her that had never quite healed right. 

 

Charlie ducked a finger under her chin and tipped her face up. “You alright treasure?”

 

She nodded, not trusting words right now. 

 

He looked at her with concern, “Just two weeks ok? Then we’ll get this all sorted.”

 

She wrapped an arm around his waist, holding him tight and planted a kiss on his chest. “Two weeks.” She repeated, wondering what on earth she was going to do about Charlie Weasley.

 


	10. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm still going, slowly but surely! I'd love to promise more regular updates...I really will make an effort to keep on top of it, especially as you've all been so lovely with your comments, thank you so much! Hope you enjoy this chapter.

A thought hit her like a bolt of lightning as she stood alone with Charlie in the grand hall of Grimmauld Place. She didn’t want him to go, didn’t want to see him walk out of the door. The realisation was nearly too much for her and she thought about just leaving now without saying a proper goodbye. But she knew she couldn’t just like she knew she had to let him leave, without so much as a word to stop him. Hermione still wasn’t sure she could give him what he wanted. She plastered a big smile on her face as if not to admit how hard this was. It looked as if his carefree expression was a little worn and there was a look on his face that she wasn’t used to seeing on there.

 

Last night had been amazing, and sweet and beautiful and it scared the life out of her. She didn't think she’d ever had a night like that were she felt it all, when everything was slowed down enough for her to identify the feelings. It made her feel skittish and even a little wary around Charlie, like they were on the edge of starting something. He was waiting for her to be ready but she wasn’t sure she ever would be. The passion was one thing but getting feelings tangled up in it all wasn’t what she’d ever wanted, gods she hated the thought that someone else had the power to make her feel happy or sad. Then she looked at the man in front of her, with his kind eyes and easy smile. She saw the way he was looking at her and couldn’t help the flare of warmth that came from deep within her.

 

He moved in to hug her, holding her close and soothing the edges of her frayed emotions. The words ‘don’t go’ were on the tip of her tongue but she swallowed them down. They settled heavy in her chest when he finally loosened his grip on her. She was unreasonably close to tears as he looked at her. She took a shaky breath in and told herself to get it together. This was silly she thought, she’d see him again in two weeks. Two weeks though and she’d have to decide whether or not to let him go for good.

 

“I’ve got to go, my portkey leaves in 10 minutes.” Charlie spoke, his voice was gruff and she couldn’t miss the regret in his tone. He leaned back so he could look at her but kept his arms around her. “I’m not half gonna miss you Hermione.”

 

“I’ll miss you too.” She said, not quite able to meet his eyes but the words were undoubtedly true. “I wish this had all gone differently.”

 

“Ha, I’m not going to pull at that thread seconds before I go.” Charlie smiled a little, “Although maybe this is exactly how it was meant to happen. I guess we’ll know in a couple of weeks.”

 

She nodded at him, throat tight. She stared at him for a moment, taking in his bright blue eyes and wandering freckles, she reached up to brush a hand through his red curls thinking that he was outrageously handsome. It really wasn’t fair. He kissed her lightly on the lips, her hands curled into his jumper as if she could keep him just here in this moment forever.

 

But she heard him whisper, “See you soon love,” before he stepped away and out the front door.  

 

She stood in the hall for a while, willing the tears to stay in her eyes. She never expected for it to be this hard to see him go. She felt awful and the weight of the decision he’d left her with was partly to blame. Already her emotions were all over the place, imagine if she actually fell in love with the man? She’d never survive it. Her lip wobbled a few times but she eventually composed herself before heading back into the house and facing Harry and Ginny.

 

She wandered back to the kitchen, not wanting to be alone. She felt sad but she was far too tired to try and hide it. As she walked in Ginny’s pitying look nearly set her off crying. Ginny nudged Harry in the arm, “Harry, whip us up some of those triple chocolate brownies you do so well. Hermione needs a pick me up.”

 

He looked in her direction, “Hermione? Why?” Obviously reading something on her face he stood up, “What’s wrong with you, are you sick? You look terrible.”

 

Ginny rolled her eyes but Hermione gave a laugh, “Thanks Harry.”

 

~~~

 

“So, how long have you two been sneaking around?” Harry asked. In the end Hermione had just told him what had been going on. She knew it was a big ask for him to keep it quiet from Ron but at the same time she felt miserable and not being able to tell her best friend why would have been more difficult.

 

“Not long actually” Hermione thought back, realising it had only been a few days ago her and Charlie had done it on the very kitchen table they were all sat around. Probably best not to share that bit of information with the group. “It’s not even been a week.”

 

Harry looked at her with surprise, probably because she was acting like an emotional head case over a boy she’d only been involved with for a handful of days.

 

“Yeah, only a week since you’ve done the deed.” Ginny chirped up making Hermione groan at her choice of words. “But let’s not pretend that you two haven’t had the hots for each other for much longer.” Harry looked even more surprised at this; his eyes widened, darting between them both. Ginny carried on regardless, “Plus you’ve known each other for years, this isn’t like one of those random wizards you bring home.”

 

Hermione sighed and lowered her head onto the table, she knew there would be more questions now and her heart was aching too much.

 

“I think we’ll all be happy not to see anymore of them.” Harry said, unhelpfully. Hermione peeked up to see him flattening out the brownie mix into a square tin before sprinkling chocolate chips over the top. “Charlie will be back before you know it Hermione, two weeks isn’t really that long. Then you can tell everyone and...hang on, is Charlie moving back here then, properly?”

 

“I don’t know” Hermione kept her head down so her voice was muffled, “We didn’t actually get that far along in the discussion.”

 

“What do you mean? You’re together aren’t you? Surely that means he’s staying here.”

 

Hermione lifted her head, and shot Ginny a look hoping the witch would help her out.

 

“Harry, they had more of an arrangement than a relationship.” Ginny said slowly.

 

“Ohhh” understanding dawned on Harry’s face, “like fuck buddies.”

 

Ginny burst into peals of laughter as Hermione gasped, “Harry Potter, I’m shocked you even know that term!”

 

Harry grinned, looking a little bashfully at Ginny, “Sometimes me and Gin get all dressed up from work, all fancy and then we meet up in a muggle bar, and pretend we don’t know each other, then we…”

 

“No, no, no...no more about any of that!” Hermione covered her ears but could see Ginny bent over the table in laughter. Harry just shrugged and went to put the brownies in the oven.

 

When Ginny finally stopped laughing she stood up, “As much fun as this conversation has been I’ve got to go, night training all this week.” She gave Harry a quick kiss before heading out the door. “See ya tomorrow Hermione, we’ll have a proper chat then.” She called over her shoulder.

 

Harry sat down again at the table and looked at Hermione.

 

“What?” She said, wondering what the questioning gaze was about.

 

“You really like Charlie then?” Harry said, face quite serious.

 

Hermione looked away, “I don’t know Harry, I’ve always thought he was attractive, our arrangement was...convenient.”

 

“Nope, try again.” Harry said.

 

“What do you want me to say Harry? That I’m crazy about him?” She snorted. “That’s not me”

 

“I think it’s a lot more you than you think, a lot more you than you’re willing to admit. What happened before he left that’s go you so upset?”

 

“It’s complicated.” Hermione huffed, afraid she’d start crying if she had to say it aloud.

 

“Charlie’s a good guy you know, he wouldn’t lead you on or anything. Wouldn’t promise you anything if he didn’t mean it.” Harry spoke softly, “You could let your guard down with him.”

 

Hermione sobbed, loudly without any warning and then burst into tears. Harry came round the table and placed a hand on her back while she cried. He didn’t say anything.

 

When she finally stopped crying enough to speak she said in between hiccoughs “I already know that, but knowing it and actually being able to do it are two different things. He wants us to be together, to be together properly and I don’t think I can do it. I can’t be with anyone Harry, there is so much to lose, so much that could go wrong. I’d hurt him, or he’d hurt me, even without meaning to. Our lives are incompatible; he’s used to something else and I’m not used to having to factor another person into my life. And I like him, I like him so much, so much more than I’ve ever liked anyone before and when it doesn’t work it’ll kill me. He’ll just go on back to Romania, back to his dragon chasing life and I’ll still be here, without him, on my own, like always. I’ll be living in this house with you and Ginny until I’m an old lady, I might as well get a few more cats now and save myself the bother. What’s the point in trying? It was fine when it was just a bit of fun but it just won’t work now, he’ll get fed up of how much I work, the amount of time I spend in the office and the way I need a bit of space. It’s not like we can carry on having sex every night, everyone knows that stops eventually and then what have I got to keep him around, nothing right…just nothing.”

 

“Wow.” Harry sat down next to her, “Seems like you’ve been carrying a lot around in that head of yours...never thought about maybe sharing some of this with Charlie?”

 

Hermione shook her head and took the handkerchief Harry had conjured to blow her nose with.

 

“Okay, I can’t answer a lot of your questions because they are obviously things that you need to hear from Charlie. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to put you right on some of that stuff you’ve been worrying about. You’re obviously crazy if you think all that you’ve got to offer is sex...you’re Hermione Granger! Charlie’s lucky to have you even look twice at him and I bet he bloody well knows it.” Harry reached over and squeezed her hand. “Let me just ask you this Hermione, forget about all the other stuff, forget about what Charlie wants and tell me what you want...and not what you want in a practical way, this isn’t about what will fit into your life the best, what do _you_ actually want from Charlie?”

 

“I don’t think I know what I want.” Hermione said, her voice sounded small.

 

“Okay so instead, tell me some things you do know.” Harry persisted.

 

“Like what?”

 

“Like the way you feel around him, or now he’s gone, how did that make you feel?”

 

“I didn’t want him to go, when he left today I didn’t want him to go.” Harry nodded at her but stayed quiet. Hermione took a deep breath, “I hate the thought that I won’t see him for two weeks. I like coming home and knowing he’s here, he always asks about my day and he makes me laugh and just the thought of coming home and him being here makes me want to leave the office. I felt like that even before we started anything...more. And I know what you’re thinking, why wouldn’t I want more of that?”

 

Harry gave her a sad smile, “You don’t want to have something like that to lose.”

 

Their eyes met and Hermione felt hers fill with tears again. She gave a sort of chuckle, “What is wrong with me? I fully realise I’m not making any sense here and I haven’t even got started on all the stuff that will come out if we actually make it official, I mean can you imagine the stuff the Prophet will write?”

 

Harry visibly winced, “I’d rather not.” They were both quiet for a moment, neither of them had had a good ride when it came to the paper’s headlines. “Okay.” Harry said suddenly, “The way I see it is you can’t do anything now for two weeks but when he’s back you really, really need to speak to Charlie...and tell him the truth woman! In the meantime there is always brownies.”

 

The smell of chocolate had filled the kitchen and Hermione smiled, feeling a little more at peace. The talk had helped, the promise of brownies was even better. Harry was right; she couldn’t do anything about it now and there was no point getting into a state. She just had to speak to Charlie when he was back...and she would, she could tell him all this. Maybe he’d send her an owl and he wasn’t going to be gone for that long really. She had plenty to do, she was always busy.

 

 ~~~

 

The days dragged by, she’d never known a week to pass so slowly. Hermione threw herself into work and it didn’t make the slightest bit of difference. Time seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace and she still hadn’t had a bloody owl from Charlie. The idiot had sent an letter to Ginny, all it said was that he was there safe and it was hectic. He said he’d write again to let her know when they were setting off. Nothing else, no asking about anyone, no promise of regular correspondence. Hermione tried to pretend it didn’t bother her that she had no note from him, after all he hadn’t said he would write to her and she hadn’t asked him to. Still the lack of contact hurt, she hated not knowing what he was up but she hated even more that he hadn’t even thought to write to her.  

 

As if it wasn’t bad enough that the each day seemed to go on forever Hermione was also waking up earlier and earlier every morning. She’d given up trying to get back to sleep and trudged downstairs to make a cup of tea. It was still dark outside so she kept the lights low in the large kitchen while she padded about putting the kettle on. She leaned against the kitchen counter while it boiled and didn’t even try to pretend she could stop thinking about Charlie. She wondered what he was doing now, she knew he should be setting off any day now and it had her on edge. The flight over was going to be dangerous, something she hadn’t really considered until now, it had always just been his job but now she actually cared for someone involved she couldn’t help but think of all the things that could go wrong. It was a difficult process, several wizards on brooms had to suspend the dragon crate, and even with featherlight charms on it was still difficult to manoeuvre. At the same time they had to keep up concealment and disillusionment charms and navigate their way across Europe. The dragons would be sedated for the journey but even then, they weren’t going to be particularly happy about being stuck in a steel cage and being carried by flying dragon keepers rather than soaring on their own. She knew they were all experienced and Charlie was one of the strongest fliers she knew but it didn’t stop her from worrying.

 

The kettle whistled loudly next to her, pulling her from her thoughts as she poured the water into her mug. Just as she went to get the milk she heard the unmistakable tapping of a beak on the window. It was another international owl meaning another letter from Charlie. She quickly opened the window, ignoring the chilly air that blasted in and took the letter eagerly, scattering down some owl treats before turning it over and seeing the name Ginny scrawled on the front again. Yet again he hadn’t thought to inform her of his whereabouts, she scowled down at the letter.

 

The owl had flown off so she shut the window and put the letter on the kitchen table. She got her milk, finished making her cup of tea and sat down at the long table. The letter seemed to stare back at her. She wondered what it said. It must be telling Ginny that he’d set off, which meant he could already be a few days into the journey. She wondered if he’d asked about her. She reached for the letter, running her fingers over the messy writing on the front and desperately wished it said Hermione. She turned it over, seeing the dragon stamped seal and decided she couldn’t really crack it open, or maybe she could pretend she thought it was for her, she was tired and she hadn’t looked properly. No, Ginny would see right through that. She looked at the clock ticking away on the kitchen wall, half past four, Ginny wouldn’t be up for hours. She might not even be up before Hermione left for work, that wouldn’t do.

 

She went up to Harry and Ginny’s room, loudly stomping on the stairs hoping to wake them up a little before she got to the door. She listened at the door and couldn’t hear a thing. She took a few more loud steps outside their room and listened again...nothing. She cracked the door open and whispered into the room, “Ginny!”

 

She waited, there was only silence. She tried again, “Ginny!” she hissed. Still nothing. Hermione huffed, she didn’t have all day. She opened the door fully, walked round to Ginny’s side of the bed and shook her, “Ginny, wake up.”

 

“Huh?” Ginny sat bolt upright and squinted up at Hermione, “Hermione, what time is it? What’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing’s wrong.” Hermione kept her voice low as Harry turned over in his sleep. “Just come out into the hall for a minute, I need you.”

 

Ginny looked confused but in her half asleep state she obeyed without question and followed Hermione out the room. As she came out into the brightly lit hallway her eyes scrunched shut so Hermione pulled her forward and shut the door behind her. Ginny blinked at her as her eyes adjusted to the sudden light, “What’s going on, what do you need? And what time is it?”

 

“It’s half four” Hermione said quickly and Ginny groaned. “But I need you to open this.” She held up Charlie’s letter.

 

Ginny stared at it for a moment, “Is it from Charlie? Ugh, you could have opened it you daft witch, you didn’t have to drag me out of bed at this ungodly hour.”

 

Hermione just held the letter out expectantly. Ginny snatched it off her and tore it open. Hermione watched as Ginny’s eyes scanned the parchment, then she folded it up. Hermione held her breath, stomach in knots.

 

“Okay great thanks, see you in a few hours Hermione.” Ginny smiled slyly at her then started to make her way back to the door.

 

“Gin! Don’t mess about, please.” Hermione grabbed her arm and pulled her back, “What does it say?”

 

“Read the damn thing yourself...like you could have done ten minutes ago and saved us both from this horrifically early encounter.” Ginny thrust the letter into Hermione’s hand and stalked back into her room.

 

Hermione stayed right outside the bedroom door and opened the parchment; she looked closely at the scrawl inside, taking a moment to decipher it. Her heart was beating madly as she read:

 

_Ginny,_

_We’re setting off today, hope to be back within the week. Dragons are as ready as they’ll ever be...wish I could say the same. Hope everyone there is alright. All                           being well I’ll see you soon._

_Love Charlie_

 

That’s it, Hermione thought, outraged with the tiny note. Well, at least she was no longer jealous she wasn’t getting owls from him, it wasn’t much to miss out on. Still, why hadn’t he wrote to her, he must have known she’d be thinking about him. She read it again... _wish I could say the same_? Her face scrunched up, what did he mean by that? Was he not ready to come back or not ready to face her, or was he just not ready to face the flight with the dragons – was she reading too much into it?

 

“Of course you are Hermione.” She spoke out loud to herself. “Charlie Weasley, you had better make it back here in one piece.”


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've had quite a long break BUT I have been writing, I just wanted to make sure I'd get the last few chapters out close together. I'm sorry for making you wait, especially with all the lovely comments you've left me.
> 
> The end is near now, maybe four chapters to go...hope you enjoy!

Hermione had decided to take matters into her own hands. She sent a quick owl off to Delta from her desk that morning, she couldn’t take another day stuck in the office and had decided that she’d feel better if she could visit the reserve. Afterall, they’d be able to give her an idea of when the dragons were expected and maybe she could even be there when they arrived. Not that she was getting desperate or anything.

Delta sent the owl back with a note saying of course she was welcome anytime; she’d meet her at the apparition point at 11am. Hermione quickly went to tell Morris she had been called over to the reserve. She never asked for time out of the office so she made some flimsy excuse about wanting to check the lab equipment they had set up but he didn’t really care, he barely looked up from his desk and just waved her away muttering, “Fine, that’s fine Hermione, see you tomorrow.”

She changed quickly, excited to get out the office and back up on the Welsh hills. She was ready far too early but decided to apparate anyway, she could easily wait out in the open for Delta.

She landed high up in the hills with the crack of apparition following her. She knew her way up to the site by now but thought she’d better wait for Delta. She sat down on the grass, stretching out her legs and leaning back on her hands. She breathed in the fresh air, enjoying the cool Autumn breeze and tried to calm her thoughts a little. She emptied her mind for a moment and looked out toward the view; the landscape up in the mountains was beautiful; stark and rugged but beautiful none the less. There were occasionally bursts of trees and the leaves turned from green up to yellow before becoming a vivid red. When the sun shone through them they looked alight, like a moving flame. Everything was still up here and it settled Hermione in a way she couldn’t explain.

Ever since reading Charlie’s note her mind had gone into overdrive and the thought that he might have changed his mind about her was crowding her thoughts. Leaving that to one side she breathed in and out, slowly, then closed her eyes. She pushed away the doubts and the anxiety, she ignored the uncertainty. 

She thought about Charlie and all the things that had changed since he walked into Grimmauld Place a few weeks ago. 

The image of the gorgeous dragon keeper tumbled into her mind; it was the image of how he looked when he had first come strolling into her kitchen, full of his easy confidence and warm smile. He made her weak at the knees, which was nothing new, he always had but now there was more. Whenever she saw him she felt herself smiling. In fact, she didn’t even have to see him...just thinking of him now had brought a smile to her face. She thought of the way he always found ways to touch her as if he knew how much it meant to her. She loved how he always kept her close when they slept in the same bed and big arm wrapped around her somehow as if he would never let her go. She remembered how he’d ask about her day and stop to listen to what she was saying without interruptions and realised that he’d always make her a cup of tea when she was feeling frazzled as if he knew without her saying anything. She thought about how he’d send her wild in bed but afterwards he never failed to kiss her, slowly and softly.

Gods, she was such an idiot...what on earth was she waiting for? He treated her like a goddess. He’d worked his way so deeply into her fantasies over the years that she hadn’t really stopped to notice just how much better the real thing was. 

Well, she was starting to notice now.

She felt tingly and a little jittery just like she used to when she was about to throw caution to the wind and follow the danger blindly, trusting in herself that it was the right thing to do.

This…being with Charlie, that was the right thing to do. She knew it, suddenly, as if the instincts that she’d shut down for so long we’re roaring at her to get off her arse and make sure she kept hold of that man. She jumped up as she could no longer sit down and grinned wildly with the freedom that came from making a sudden decision. She felt like shouting out into the mountains. She knew somewhere deep down that this was what she wanted, something had clicked into place and a weight lifted off her as her smile widened. Charlie Weasley would be her boyfriend! 

She was still grinning out into nothing when Delta finally came down the hill, long, black braid bouncing behind her as she strided towards her.

“Alright H, thought we’d have heard from you sooner. Didn’t think you’d be able to stay away from us, even without Charlie here.” She winked.

“When are they due in Delta?” Hermione said, ignoring the teasing.

“You mean you haven’t heard from him?” Delta said, puzzled.

Hermione shook her head, “He’s sent a letter to his sister.”

“And not to you? Have you fallen out or something?”

“No, not exactly.” Hermione said.

“Why don’t you tell me why you’re here then?” Delta said and they started the walk back to site.

~~~

Hermione spent a few hours on the reserve chatting to Delta. There was still no sign of Charlie’s team but Delta had put her mind at rest there. Communication would be difficult when they were on the journey back, and yes they were a little behind but no one was worried; they had prepared for the delays. Hermione just wished he was here now. She was full of nervous energy and wanted nothing more than to tell him a big fat yes they could be together and to hell with everyone else. Her body was practically humming with the effort to keep everything contained. 

Delta sent her an owl at the end of the day telling her they hadn’t arrived but not to worry, she was sure they’d be in soon. The next day Hermione waited anxiously, she’d asked Delta to let her know as soon as she knew more and just before she left work there was another owl bearing a note. It said that they hadn’t arrived but two other teams had made it with their dragons so Charlie’s team shouldn’t be far behind. 

Another fretful sleep and again Hermione sat through another tortuous day at the Ministry waiting for news...there was still nothing. She couldn't bear it. Delta had assured her that the delay was perfectly normal, anything could happen en route; sometimes the team would tire more quickly than anticipated, they’d have to stop more often, or they could hit a bad pocket of weather and have to land. If anyone got hurt they’d need time to heal them before setting off again, rationally Hermione knew all this but it didn’t stop the anxiety from rolling around her body, increasing with each day longer it took them. Another two days passed and the other two teams came in. Charlie’s was the only one not back yet.

Saturday morning came and without the distraction of work Hermione decided enough was enough. She dressed in her warm outdoor gear and at 6am stood on the steps of Grimmauld Place to apparate up into the Welsh hills. She had to be there when he came back in, surely he had to come back in soon? Even Ginny was starting to get a little twitchy so Hermione left her a note, telling her where she’d gone and that she’d keep her updated with any news.

Hermione reached the wards to the reserve quickly, she’d marched up the hills, legs burning and breath visible in the cool morning air. She kept her fingers crossed and hoped it was still set up to admit her. All was fine and she passed through the wards into an eerily quiet site. The sun wasn’t up yet but the sky was starting to lighten on the horizon, blue flamed lights flickered around the camp and all was silent. She plodded into the kitchen cabin quietly, hoping not to disturb anyone and started to make a cup of tea. While the tea brewed she looked out the window, desperately wishing he’d arrive, that he’d just land out of nowhere and he’d laugh and wink at her, tell her he had it all under control and what was everyone so worried about. She longed to see him here. She didn’t know why she’d tried to hide how she felt about it; right now she’d announce it to the world, if only he’d show up.

The cabin door opened and she startled but it was only Owain, he looked at her, barely showing his surprise.

“Waiting for Charlie?” He asked, as if it was totally natural for her to be in the cabin kitchen before sunrise.

She nodded sheepishly, “Sorry to bust in, the wards still let me through so I thought it would be alright. Would you like a cup of tea?”

“Yeah please, that would be great.”

They stood in silence for a moment while Hermione made him his drink. They sat down at the table together, both looking out the window as the sun began to dazzle above the horizon.

“He’ll be okay you know,” Owain interrupted her thoughts.

“He better bloody had be.” Hermione muttered back, cupping the hot mug to warm her hands.

Owain let out a half smile, “I’ll be honest, the delay is a little longer than we’d like but still within what we’d planned for. His dragon is pretty feisty, he just won’t be taking any chances.”

“Thanks.” Hermione offered him a weak smile.

“I take it you’ll be staying the day with us?” He asked her.

“Is that okay? I’m sorry if this is really unprofessional or something but I haven’t heard a thing from him and every day he isn’t back…” she sighed, not sure how to finish that sentence. “I couldn’t stand the thought of sitting at home all day waiting for news.”

“It’s fine.” Owain reassured her, “Charlie will be glad to see you here.”

Hermione smiled at that, hoping it was true. Owain hadn’t said so but it seemed like he knew they were together, like it was a given. Hermione wondered if they’d really been that obvious. 

“I’m out on patrol checking the new dragons now but Delta will be here soon, we can find you a job to do while you’re waiting, if you’d like to keep busy?”

“Yes, that would be perfect. I’m happy to help out.” Hermione said, just grateful not to have to pass the day at home waiting.

“Cool, I’ll go and get ready for patrol then I’ll open up the research cabins. Delta will be in there today so you can give her a hand. She’ll be glad to see you too” He gave her a rare smile and headed on out of the cabin.

Hermione followed him outside and sat on the bench overlooking the reserve, remembering sitting there with Charlie while he showed off his tattoos. Merlin, how she wished she’d just told him how she felt, even back then she knew it was different with him. Deep down she’d known it was always going to be different with him; she’d been kidding herself that it could ever be casual. This thing between them had been brewing for longer then she’d realised and she’d held back and held back not wanting to admit just how strong her feelings were for him. And what have you gained from it you daft girl? She thought; nothing except misery. She didn’t want to hold back anymore, probably couldn’t now if she tried.

The silence of the camp was abruptly broken and she heard Delta before she saw her.

“They’re coming in!” Delta shouted out across the camp, Hermione jumped up and headed towards the voice. “Charlie’s team have been spotted, everyone stand by!”

A few people came out of cabins and walked towards the wards, Owain came jogging back towards Hermione.

“This is it. Wanna come out in the field?” He looked serious and Hermione could barely believe her luck. 

“Yes.” Hermione answered instinctively and her heart rate notched up a gear. “Can I do that?”

“Stick with me, I’ll get you through.”

She stood close behind him, practically following in his footsteps as he walked towards where Delta was checking people passing through the wards.

She smiled as she spotted them, “Hermione” she grabbed her into a quick hug and whispered in her ear “told you he’d be back soon.”

“She’s coming through with me Delta.” Owain said.

Delta frowned, “I don’t know Owain, we don’t know what’s delayed the team. It might not be safe out there.”

“Not safe...for Hermione Granger?” Owain questioned.

“I know, I know but Charlie might not want her out there.”

“Please Delta” Hermione spoke up, “I won’t get in anyone’s way, I just want to see if he’s alright. You won’t have to worry about me, I promise.”

Delta watched her carefully, still frowning a little. “Fine...get through, quickly before I change my mind, wand out and hold Owain’s hand when you pass through. Go!” she shouted the last bit and Hermione jumped, grabbing Owain’s outstretched hand as they passed through the invisible wards.

Several dragon keepers stood out on the open mountain, eyes to the sky, waiting for any sign of the crew. More people joined until she could see about a dozen bodies looking upward. Hermione stayed close to Owain, her wand out in front of her as she scanned the sky. It was a grey day and she had no idea which direction she should even be looking in.

It wasn’t long before a shout went up, “Over there.” and the wizard shot purple sparks out of his wand. More sparks went up across the camp, travelling along the lines of dragon keepers and she realised they were set out in a formation to make a kind of landing strip for the flying crew. As she looked up she could see the figures in the sky coming closer and closer, they didn’t look as if they were flying particularly steadily and there was a flickering dark shape underneath them. She narrowed her eyes, straining to see more. The disillusionment charm wasn’t holding she realised as she saw more and more of the dragon’s cage emerge. How long had it been like this for? Had they been spotted or attacked?

She couldn’t make out the individual riders but she did see a sharp blaze of fire erupt from the flickering cage, aiming for one of the dragon keepers riding alongside. A shield must have been placed around the cage because it didn’t quite reach the broomstick but even from down on the ground it looked awfully close. 

The riders dropped suddenly and Hermione’s stomach swooped with it. She heard a few gasps come from people around her and looked to Owain for reassurance. He was staring doggedly at the incoming crew, “Keep that wand out Hermione, stunning spell if I say, stick by me.” He started to move around the outside of the space cleared for landing his eyes never leaving the flying team.

Delta came running through the wards carrying her broomstick, “I’m going up, I need a team of three now.”

There was a flurry of activity while people ran around to stand beside Delta with broomsticks.

“Spread out!” Owain shouted to the dragon keepers on the ground, “We don’t know where they’ll land! Everyone’s wand needs to be out...stunning spells ready, only fire on my order.” He barked out more orders one after another but his voice faded as Hermione saw another blast of fire come from the sky, the disillusionment charm had now fully failed, or they’d given up trying to keep it up. 

She could just make out the huge, glittering green dragon in the cage that was swaying wildly underneath the riders. As they came closer she could see how unsteady they were, dipping and swaying, only to be pulled rapidly back in above the cage. She kept watching until she was sure she could make out Charlie right at the front. Every now and again his broom would swoop down and it looked like he was fighting to keep it up and moving forward.  

“Hermione.” Owain’s sharp voice brought her back to the field, “Over this side with me.”

She looked towards him and realised she hadn’t been staying with him at all; she’d been stood in a world of her own watching Charlie. She ran over to him.

“I know you can handle this but if you can’t keep your head in the game then you need to get back on the other side of the wards.” His dark eyes fixed on her, his words were harsh but she knew this was about keeping everyone safe.

“I’m here...I can do it.” Hermione reassured him, there was no way she was leaving this field now.

“Good.” he said and looked up into the sky again. The crew had dropped...a lot and it looked like they were trying to drag the cage against an immense force to get it into the clearing. All the riders were in front of the cage now. The dragon was letting out blasts of fire alongside the loudest roar Hermione had ever heard. This dragon was not happy. They dipped again and one of the riders spiralled downwards, falling a fair way before realigning the broomstick.

Delta’s crew had nearly reached them by now but they stayed underneath the riders and seemed to be placing an extra shield spell or ward around the cage. The noise lessened slightly and the cage seemed to stop rocking quite so much. They were getting close now and she could clearly make out Charlie at the front of the riders, he was there and he was on his broom, he was ok. Time seemed to go even more slowly as they came right over the clearing and gradually started to lower the cage.

Hermione could make out the dazzling green longhorn clearly inside the cage, it was no longer roaring but was glaring up at the riders as they lowered the cage to the ground. The dragon grunted over and over and flung her head from side to side watching everything.

“Steady everyone.” Owain spoke up as the cage came within range. Delta and her team were following it down and landed on the grass just before the cage settled with a loud thump.

“Get ready.” Owain called out. The dragon slowly looked around them all, her golden horns seemed to light up her face. She was still breathing heavily and snorting puffs of smoke out of her nostrils. Hermione was aware that the riding crew were starting to land around them but she daren’t take her eyes from the dragon. She wasn’t sure if she was imagining it or not but there seemed to be intense heat coming from the direction of the cage.

Hermione held her wand steady and kept it pointed right in the direction of the dragon. Owain was holding an arm out making sure no one fired and she could see Delta had started slowly backing away from the cage, wand clearly out in front of her. She could feel the tension as if it were a band connecting them all as they stood around the field.

The dragon appeared to be watching them, well glaring really, as if waiting for them to make a move. She raised her head to the ceiling of the cage and let out a deafening roar, fire flowing out of her mouth at the same time. The flames met the top of the metal container and spread around her, deep, crimson fire licking over her scales seemingly without bothering her at all.

Hermione could definitely feel the heat now but she stood her ground, she felt all the dragon keepers creeping forward as they circled around the cage.

“Don’t fire!” the voice of Charlie Weasley boomed from behind the cage. He walked around, circling closely to stand by Delta. “She’s alright now. Just give her a minute.”

As he looked out over the dragon keepers his eyes briefly caught Hermione’s. She saw the surprise in them before he turned around to face the dragon. He started walking forward slowly, hands out in front of him. Hermione wasn’t close enough to hear his words but she could hear his soft tone, he was almost crooning to the giant beast. The dragon had stopped her roar and was eyeing Charlie up, she snorted briskly in his direction but it was more of a warning that anything else. A little ball of flame licked through the bars of the cage but went no further. 

Charlie crouched down in front of the cage, still a little way away and carried on talking softly. Like all the riders he had protective dragon hide armour over his robes but it wouldn’t do much if she decided to roast him from this distance. Hermione held her breath. Charlie turned around and gave a quick nod to Delta who in turn looked to Owain.

“Right, stand down.” Owain spoke softer now. “Make your way back into the wards and we can let her out.”

Hermione stood up straight, out of her fighting stance and lowered her wand. Her body still felt tense and she rolled out her shoulders.

“What about Charlie?” she whispered to Owain.

“He’ll come in last; the cage is tied to him.” Owain replied.

“You mean he has to stay here when the dragon is freed!” Hermione exclaimed, horrified that he would be that close to a very angry, very large, dragon.

“No he can do it here then come in. It’s set up to release the wards after a certain amount of time. The dragons magic can sometimes make the time frame a bit less than we’d like but Charlie will have chance to get back in our protection.”

Owain had started walking so she followed alongside him, snatching glances back towards Charlie and his dragon. It took a while to get back inside the wards, she didn’t realise quite how far they had come out to get a clear landing spot. A few of the riders had flown back, they looked exhausted and nearly all had tattered robes showing burns underneath. She hadn’t seen any obvious injuries on Charlie, although his robes had looked a little shredded now she thought about it. 

As she looked back towards the field she could see Delta stood a little way away from the cage, holding her own broom in one hand and Charlie’s in another. Charlie was stood upright now and he was waving his wand up above the cage. A brilliant blue light shone out, lighting up the cage as it washed over the dragon. As soon as it reached the ground Charlie turned, Delta threw him his broom and they were both in the air before Hermione could think ‘GO!’

They flew quickly towards the wards entry point as the cage started to rattle. Hermione started muttering under her breath, “Come on” she said to herself, over and over. She was clenching her hands so tight she could feel her nails biting into her palm. 

At last they were through, the wards swooshed as they admitted them and Charlie was there. He landed at the back of the everyone, just a few yards from her but she was hid from his view by the crowd. Everyone around Hermione kept their eyes on the dragon as she made her way out of the cage. Hermione spared her a quick glance as the bars started to vanish and the dragon began thumping her tail on the ground. She looked back at Charlie as he looked up and ran both his hands through his hair. He looked relieved, utterly relieved and even a little rattled. 

Delta clapped him on the back and as he looked back up at her the nervousness was all over his face, for once Charlie Weasley looked unsure. He gave Delta a tight smile but then stepped away from her and Hermione could see him scanning the crowd. Her heart lightened a bit. He was here; thank all the gods and he had made it back in one piece. As she looked closer she could see burns on his arms, under the protective dragon hide his robes were torn, he looked pale and tired but he was still absolutely gorgeous, he was still her Charlie. 

She started to make her way through the lines of people watching the dragon and she pushed backwards through the crowd, jostling people as she went heading towards where she could see Charlie scanning. She had just broken through the last of the people when he caught her eye and froze. 

 


	12. Chapter Twelve

She thought she could see him visibly relax as he caught sight of her but before she could watch him any more she was running, flying over the rough ground so she could get to him. Tears were threatening to fall and her legs felt wobbly. He saw her coming and moved forward, reaching out to scoop her up as soon as she was within reach. He picked her up off the floor, and wrapped her in his big arms holding her so close the breath was snatched out of her. He buried his head into her neck and Hermione held on tightly around his shoulders.

 Everyone's eyes were on the dragon but even if they weren’t Hermione didn’t care, she didn’t care who saw them she was just so glad to have him here, to have him in front of her looking just as she wanted him too.

“Charlie.” She whispered in his ear.

“Don’t say anything yet.” He said, his voice muffled by her hair.

“Charlie.” She said again and tried to wriggle free. He held on tighter and she giggled. “Charlie, let go a little, I want to see you.”

He slowly loosened his grip on her and she slid down his body until her toes felt the earth. She leant back in his arms, trying to catch his eye but he wouldn’t look at her. His eyes stayed down and a little bit of doubt crept into her mind, he hadn’t written to her and maybe things had changed. Could it be that the time away had made him reconsider? His expression was complicated and she could see uncertainty on there for maybe first time ever.

Hermione looked him over properly; his hair was fluffed with extra curls now it had grown longer and he was sporting a new gingery beard after a few days without shaving. He held onto her waist and she could feel the tension in his arms, the way he kept his eyes down broke her heart a little and he looked tired, like it would be an effort to smile at the moment. But he was still Charlie. She knew he was the one for her, the one worth taking a chance on and she didn’t want to leave it any longer to let him know. This would have to be it; it was time she took the chance for a change. She took a deep breath and put her hands up on either side of his face.     

“Charlie Weasley, you had better look at me this instant.”

He snapped his eyes up and looked startled.

“Now listen carefully.” She said firmly, his blue eyes widened but held her own. “I’m not happy with you...you didn’t write to me, not once. Writing to your sister and not to your girlfriend is no good.” He had started to smile and looked like he might say something, she cut him off. “Don’t you dare interrupt me Charlie.” His mouth snapped shut again but his eyes crinkled with amusement. “I’ve half a mind to punish you.” She pretended to consider this for a moment, “but luckily for you seeing a man go head to head with a dangerous dragon is on my list of turn-ons...sooo you’ll just have to make it up to me later.”

And without giving him chance to say a word she pulled him to her and kissed him. Her hands wound around his neck and her lips pushed tightly against his. She poured everything into the kiss, everything she’d previously held back. She knew that for all the passion they’d shared she’d been keeping a part of herself away from him, a part that had been hurt before and needed protecting but now she couldn’t keep it from him any longer. Feeling rushed at her from every part of her being and she thought of nothing else but him. She finally kissed him without worrying what came next. It was a kiss that said all the things she should have said to him but her heart had held back.

One of Charlie’s hands went to the back of her head and one clutched around her waist as the kiss deepened. Hermione let out a contented hum as his tongue took charge of her mouth. His hand had started to sneak lower to the curve of her bum when she heard Delta whisper as she went past.

“Keep it professional boss.”

They broke apart suddenly and Hermione looked up to see Delta wink at her and keep walking.

“I think we need to get out of here.” Charlie muttered, as his hands gripped onto her hips.

“Now? Don’t you have to debrief or something? There is a massive dragon you’ve left out there.” Hermione said, waving a hand over her shoulder.

“These guys can handle it.” Charlie said. He ditched his protective clothing and robes so he was just in jeans and a t-shirt.

“Don’t you need to be checked over?” Hermione said, thinking of the scorch marks she could see on him. “Or what about the delay? What happened, shouldn’t you tell somebody?”

“Hermione” he said, voice low, “right now I don’t give a damn about anything other than getting out of here with you.”

Hermione felt a shiver go through her body and she kissed him quickly on the lips, “Ok, let's go home.”

~~~

They apparated onto the top step of Grimmauld Place, breathless from running down the Welsh hills. They’d barely said a word to each other but Hermione wasn’t sure they really needed to. 

Once they were inside, the door shut behind them Charlie spun Hermione around, pinned her to the door and placed his arms on either side of her head. She smiled up and him, feeling lighter than she had in a while. He leaned forward to kiss her when the indisputable sound of a very loud cat careening down the stairs broke them apart. Hermione looked down to see Crookshanks winding himself around Charlie’s legs, purring wildly. He looked down at the daft cat.

“Hello there,” he said, reaching down to scratch at Crookshank’s head. The purring got louder. “Nice to see you again too but I think you’ll have to excuse me for a few hours, I have some catching up to do with your witch.”

Hermione smiled at Crookshanks’s twitchy tail but Charlie’s eyes met hers again.

“We’ve got so much we need to talk about.” She started, desperately hoping they could do that later.

“I suppose we do.” Charlie agreed, “but, I’m finding it pretty hard to think about all that right now.”

“Do you need to have a shower, or some healing poti....ooooh” Hermione squealed. Charlie had bent down and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder as he began to carry her up the stairs.

“You could have just asked you know” she said laughing.

“But where’s the fun in that?” He replied “There’ll be time for everything later, we do manage to wash when travelling you know and I’ve done alright till now without healing potions. We will talk,” he carried on, opening the door to her room. “But the thought of being with you Hermione has made a very long journey bearable and I don’t intend to wait a second longer than I have to.” As he shut the door, he shifted Hermione so she slid back down his body. She reached out and ran her hand along the red beard.

“I like this.” She said and her voice came out much sexier that she had intended. In her defence, the beard was insanely hot though.

“Yeah?” He said, with a cheeky smile, “How much do you like it?”

Instead of answering she decided to show him. Charlie’s blue eyes darkened as she explored him with her hands, leaving his beard and trailing down his neck, onto his shoulders and along his collarbone. She reached his chiselled chest and smoothed her hands out along him, loving the way he felt under her. He stayed still and quiet but his hands dug into her hips, gripping on hard. She moved her hands down and pulled him against her, feeling him already starting to harden. His eyes flashed to hers with a look so intense that ordinarily she’d had shut her eyes. This time she watched him as she brought her hands under his T-shirt and traced small circles over his solid stomach. When she reached the line of hair in the middle she stopped and followed it up, tracing over the ridges of his muscles and teasing them both slowly. She didn’t know how he felt but she was feeling a little breathless from this alone.

She wanted to touch him everywhere and she brought her hands back to the hem of his T-shirt, lifting it just a little until he got the hint. He dutifully shifted up and lifted his arms up for her as she peeled it off him. She was careful around the scorches littering his arms and neck but he didn’t even seem to notice.

She threw the t shirt behind her and shoved him back a little so his back rested against the door. His eyebrow rose in amusement but he stayed quiet. When her hands reached for his belt buckle the other eyebrow rose up too.

“Hermi...” he started to speak.

“Quiet Charlie.” She said with a slight snap, and fixed him with her most determined glare. He never gave her chance to enjoy him properly, she was damn well going to do it now.

He laughed a little and held up his hands in a show of defeat. She had his trousers open now and in one smooth movement pushed them, and his underwear, down his hips until they pooled on the floor. His cock sprang free, even harder now and getting seemingly bigger every second. Something inside her melted at the sight of him and she fought the urge to just get him on the bed now.

She didn’t touch him but very slowly knelt down on the floor. Charlie let out a strangled groan and a small smile spread over her face. She had never been that interested in giving blow jobs before, she’d do it if the moment arose and it was always okay but something about Charlie’s cock made her mouth water. Hermione wanted him totally at her mercy.

She ran her hands up his muscled thighs, squeezing at the firmness, loving the strength of him. His cock was straining for attention now so Hermione made herself comfortable and just waited another second then reached out to grasp the base of him at the same time she wrapped her lips around the head. He hissed out a breath and his hands slammed into the door behind him. Hermione pulled back to look at him and thought that his reaction could be the most erotic thing she’d seen. She looked up at him and tentatively stuck out her tongue to swirl around the tip of him. He swore, loudly, and she could see the strain in his body. Oh she could get used to this. She moved slowly taking him further into her mouth and licking a stripe up the underside of him as she moved her head back; she stopped at the top pumping with her hand and flicking her tongue against a particularly sensitive spot.

“Fuck!” Charlie groaned out and his hips jutted forward, “Fuck, Hermione...” she looked up again to find him watching her, eyes ablaze. She wondered if he knew how much this was turning her on. She gripped him tightly and started to move her mouth up and down in time with her hand. He cursed some more and buried his hands in her curls. She moaned, enjoying herself and finding a nice rhythm. He groaned loudly once more and before she knew what was happening he’d picked her up and tossed her on the bed.

“Can’t do anymore of that treasure, you were killing me.” He spoke roughly, while he quickly undressed and climbed over her.

She pouted at him, “I was enjoying myself.”

“I know, and that doesn’t bloody help either!”

Hermione was going to say more but the words flew out her head when he buried his head in her neck and nipped and sucked his away along the sensitive skin. He quickly took off her jumper and she felt his large hand roughly cupping her breast through the thin lace of her bra. Hermione gasped as he pinched at her nipple, the sensation spreading right to her centre and making her feel liquid all over. Charlie lowered his head and licked across the sensitive peak, making her cry out louder as she felt his tongue through the fabric. He nipped her lightly before returning his fingertips to the same spot, rubbing roughly. She was panting out little breaths and she could feel her face heating up. She had every intention of making this good for him but the things he was doing to her made her melt in his arms, she didn’t want him to ever stop. She could barely think. She caught his eyes and saw he knew exactly what he was doing.

“Gods, I’ve dreamt of hearing these noises again. You’ve no idea what it does to me treasure.” Charlie ground out, “I’m gonna make you scream my fucking name.”

And with that he stood up, vanished the rest of her clothes and knelt down at the edge of the bed. He wasted no time, there was no teasing today as he pulled her towards his eager mouth and dived at her folds, she knew she was already soaking wet, she had been since he’d kissed her at the dragon reserve. Something about the way he kissed always had her desperate for more, maybe it was because she knew exactly how good it felt when he did the same between her legs. He wasn’t playing around now though and quickly found her clit with his tongue, teasing and licking the tight bundle of nerves making her moan out endlessly. She had no idea if Ginny and Harry were in the house and to be honest she didn’t really care. Even if the door opened right now she’d demand he carried on doing exactly what he was doing, it was glorious.

She felt him wrap his arms around her thighs and he pulled her closer to his mouth. His tongue ran in between her folds and then he pushed it inside her. Hermione’s hands had been gipping onto the duvet but now she moved them and tangled them in his hair. Charlie groaned, making her writhe her hips with the need for him. He continued to assault her with his tongue, alternating tiny flicks with long licks. She wondered if she might actually lose consciousness as he was driving her absolutely mindless, she couldn’t think of anything but the feeling of his tongue against her.

“Charlie” she said breathlessly, she needed to come now, her legs were trembling and her whole body felt on fire. He focussed in on the spot she needed him to and his tongue did something indescribable, she had never felt anything like it. She came instantly. “Charlie!” she screamed out just as her body tumbled over the edge.

As if he couldn’t hold back any longer Charlie rose over her and plunged deep into her. Her eyes flew open and she moaned out his name again.

“Fuckin’ hell” Charlie said as he felt the aftermath of her orgasm around his cock. His hips stuttered and Hermione let out a breathy laugh at his curse, she slowly slid her hands up his tattooed arms, pulling down to kiss him, needing to have all of him. She kept her hands around his neck, holding him in place while her tongue danced with his. His hips moved, pushing even further into her and making her gasp. He pulled his hips out slowly, so she felt every movement, and pushed back in making her moan as he filled her completely. Everything just felt so good. He continued slowly moving in and out of her, rubbing against all her most sensitive parts and driving her mad.

This time when he pushed in she moved her hips to meet him and felt a delicious pull from deep within her. Charlie pulled back a little, kneeling between her legs he moved her legs to rest over his shoulders. She felt his hands grip her backside and move her hips up, positioning her just as he wanted her. He pushed in, fast and hard and deep and she cried out at the dark pleasure radiating from her core. He seemed to be everywhere at once. He kept her hips lifted up in his large hands and she felt his fingers digging into the flesh as he pulled out and pounded back into her again. Hermione felt lost, it was too much and not enough at the same time. Her hands gripped in the bed covers as Charlie started to thrust in earnest now, in and out, he plunged deep within her and set a punishing rhythm. Hermione couldn’t stop the moans that were being ripped from her, she was helpless to them. Warmth spread out all over her body and she felt everywhere begin to tingle, Charlie started pulling her up towards him as he pushed into her and she screamed out, feeling her climax begin. The pleasure took over her body and the waves kept on coming and coming, Charlie didn’t falter once, he just rode it out, panting through gritted teeth as her walls pulsed around him. She heard herself saying Charlie over and over until finally he groaned loudly and thrust into her, cock throbbing deep inside her as he came and whispered her name.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're nearly there! I find it so hard to finish off stories so it's a miracle I've made it this far. I'm editing the ending as we speak so it will be hopefully on here soon. Thank you again for all the kudos, comments and just the fact people are reading!

Charlie woke up in the large soft bed a little disoriented. It had been a while since he’d slept so soundly or comfortably. His eyes cracked open then shut tightly again, it was still daylight. His sleep-filled brain caught up and remembered where he was and who he was with. He tightened his arms around the little witch cuddled up against him and he felt the wave of relief crash over him again. He almost couldn’t believe it. He was here, she’d said yes.

It had been a shit journey home; there was no two ways about it. Everything that could have possibly gone wrong had gone wrong. It probably hadn’t helped that he had half a mind on what was waiting for him here, dragons always picked up on extreme emotions. The bad journey, the irritable dragon, the worry over what Hermione would say; this had been the longest few weeks of his life.

He wondered how much longer he could hold onto this happiness; keep them in this little bubble until the shit really hit the fan when they told Ron and Mum. Deciding that wasn’t worth worrying about right now Charlie concentrated on the fact that he had a very naked Hermione pressed up against him. She was curled up with her back to his chest, he breathed in the smell of her shampoo. He moved his hand down to skim across the curve of her hip before gliding round to the softness of her stomach, he spread his hand out and pulled her back a little bringing their bodies even more in line. Even just the feel of her skin against his was enough to stoke the fire between them but his body had already woken up to that fact with all her lovely soft parts pressing against all of his hard parts. Now, he was very aware of his aching erection between their bodies.

He nudged back her curls and kissed her neck softly until she made a sleepy little murmur and shifted her hips back further to rub up against him. Charlie kept kissing her neck, softly. She was every bit as beautiful as he remembered; he had started to wonder if he’d exaggerated how good this was between them but the sex a few hours earlier had proven that wrong. The way she responded when he touched her body made him feel crazed, in a way he’d never felt with anybody else. Even half asleep their bodies seemed to gravitate towards each other.

Her body was now arching against him and he moved a hand round to cup her breast, thumb rubbing lightly over a peaked nipple as she thrust it further into his hand. 

“Mmmm...Charlie” she murmured, voice husky.

His name on her lips was always his undoing and he lifted her leg up, draping it back over his thigh so he could open her up and position himself at her entrance. His cock was already throbbing, knowing exactly what it was in for as he nudged inside of her, slowly in case she was sore. He had moved another torturous inch, still trying to hold back when she suddenly thrust her hips back so he was right inside her dripping heat. He groaned feeling how wet she was and nipped at her shoulder as he clamped a hand over her hip, instinctively making sure they were as close as they could be. 

This was a damn fine way to wake up. 

“You have no idea how good you feel to me treasure.” He said in her ear.

“I think I do.” She replied breathily, as she tightened around him.

He made a coarse noise and started to move leisurely, thrusting in and out, as he littered open mouthed kisses along her shoulder. She was breathing heavily and her hands had gripped onto his arms where they were still wrapped around her. He untangled one so he could bring a hand down between her legs, rubbing against the sensitive point and then momentarily stalling as it made her core clamp down around him. He hissed out a breath, there was absolutely nothing in this world like being buried deep inside this woman.

“Yes...yes.” Hermione breathed out as her hips started moving in time with his. He kept his movements slow, knowing that anything more was going to make him come instantly but continued to tease her clit, gliding his finger lightly over it everytime he pushed inside her. Her body was warm against his, her soft curves moulding against his rigid body. She still seemed a little drowsy and he daren’t change position for fear of breaking this spell. It didn’t take long for the telltale tremble to start in her thighs, he heard her breathing hitch just before she started coming, pulsing around his cock. He kept on moving, kept riding out her orgasm until he couldn’t take anymore. She moaned as he pushed deep inside her, feeling the pleasure explode all over his skin before it was wrung out of him as he emptied inside of her. 

“Hmmm.” Hermione murmured, still sleepy. “I could get used to this.” 

“I hope you will.” Charlie said, still breathing heavily and wondering if he’d ever get used to these devastating orgasms. Hermione turned around in his arms, she kissed him lightly on the lips. Cheeks flushed and eyes half-lidded she looked sexy as hell, how long was acceptable to spend locked away in this room together?

Her eyes met his and held his gaze; he smiled.

“What are you thinking Charlie Weasley?” She said.

“Nothing really, I just like looking at you.” He smiled wider as she rolled her eyes, “And I’m just thinking how bloody amazing you look after a good shag.”

She laughed, dazzling him. Something was different. Ever since she’d run over to him at the dragon reserve there had been something there he couldn’t quite put his finger on but now it hit him. He realised he could, at long last, read her expression. She’d opened up something that was usually shut off to him. She looked happy and excited and quite frankly well fucked right about now. She was also looking at him as he suspected he often looked at her, as if he was the most important thing in her world. Her eyes seemed to glow and he could feel his chest fill with warmth as one corner of her mouth tipped up again in a half smile.

“You know, you had me pretty worried love, the last few weeks have been hell and not just because of an irate dragon. I didn’t know if I’d get this again. It damn near killed me to walk away from you.” Charlie admitted.

“You were worried! Charlie, you were nearly a week late and I hadn’t heard a single thing from you.” Hermione fired back at him.

“I’d wrote to Ginny though, you’d have known I was okay...I didn’t want to push my luck to be honest. Thought I might have a better chance if I backed off and let that big brain of yours figure things out.” 

“Hmph.” Hermione smiled at him reluctantly and he knew he’d hit the nail on the head. He hadn’t really been concentrating when he was out in Romania, his thoughts trailed back to Hermione at every opportunity. So many times he’d started to write a letter to her, only to find he had no words. He told himself that he didn’t want to put pressure on her but really he didn’t want to jinx it. Mostly he just thought she needed the time, uninterrupted.

“Haha...it bloody well worked didn’t it?! If I’d have been here you’d have carried on ignoring the obvious.” he said.

“And what is the obvious?”

“You’ll figure it out soon enough” Charlie replied, kissing the tip of her nose if only to hold back saying more. 

“You think you’re so charming Charlie Weasley.” She gave him a knowing smile. She had to see it, he was sure everyone else could. Whether she knew or not his words didn’t seem to be sending her spiralling. He still couldn’t be sure that she was ready to hear the real thing. He relaxed and laughed.

“No, I know I’m charming.” He started to untangle himself from the sheets and her limbs. “And as much as I’d like to keep you in this bed I’m also in desperate need of a wash and some food. If I don’t move now there’ll be no hope for me ever leaving this bed.”

~~~

Hermione pulled out several salves and healing potions for him from the bathroom cabinet before she went downstairs, leaving Charlie to shower. She was only wearing that silky dressing gown when she left him and seeing her hips sway underneath the flowing fabric nearly had him following her. 

Instead he jumped in the shower, wincing as the hot water ran over the burns but the need to be clean outweighed the pain. It had been a while since he’d had the luxury of hot running water. He got out and changed into his soft comfy joggers and favourite green t shirt, he grabbed the salve on the way downstairs, following the smell of bacon frying. 

He walked barefoot onto the cold stone floor of the kitchen just as Hermione slipped the bacon out of the pan and onto a doorstop slice of white bread, already plated up on the counter next to her. She cracked two eggs into the pan, humming as she did, her unruly curls swished around her shoulders as she swayed slightly dancing to whatever song she had in her head.

Charlie leaned against the doorjamb as he watched her. There was going to be some difficult times ahead for them, he wasn’t too bothered what the Prophet wrote about him and while he wasn’t exactly looking forward to having to speak to Ron he would be glad to get this whole thing out in the open. While he didn’t mind so much for himself he wished there was a way that Hermione didn’t have to go through it all. He’d like to see her stay this content forever, however unrealistic it may be.

He walked up quietly behind her, arms going round her waist he rested his chin on her shoulder. She laughed lightly, “Smelled the food did you?” 

“Yep.”

“Well, you certainly smell a lot better after that shower.” She teased as she transferred the eggs from the sputtering pan onto the sandwiches.

Charlie reluctantly let go of her and carried the plates to the table, he sat down and tucked into his. 

“Charlie!” Hermione said, “you haven’t put sorted those burns out yet have you?!”

“Ummm” Charlie managed with a mouth full of food; he swallowed “I got distracted. I did bring the salve down though.”

She glared at him.

“They’re not as bad as they look, honestly these are quite normal for dragon keepers. The only reason you haven’t seen me with any is that the Welsh Greens are pretty tame.” 

Hermione tutted at him but said, “Finish your sandwich them we’ll sort them out.” She took a bite of her own food then said, “So what exactly happened with your dragon then, she looked furious.”

Charlie sighed, “I can’t say for sure, but all those little things that we think may go wrong, it seemed like every single one of them did. The disillusionment spell never seemed to take to her properly, her magic must have been blasting through it. That meant we had to land more, the weather we hit was horrendous, we were taken off course a couple of times. One or two little problems are fine but when it’s constantly going wrong it’s exhausting.” Charlie took a big bite of his sandwich.

“I don’t know how you do it.” Hermione said, “They’re astounding creatures but that dragon looked utterly terrifying today.”

“Yeah well, it was never going to be easy transporting them and I took her because I knew if any were going to cause trouble it would be her! We have to stun the dragons to sedate them and then that gets their back up...” 

“You’re still stunning dragons instead of tranquilising them?” Hermione asked shock evident in her voice. “Owain had mentioned it but I thought it was just if they attacked.”

“Well, yeah, when we have to...and I know what you’re thinking, I don't like it either. We haven’t been able to figure out how to safely tranquillise them, no one has really put the time into researching it so we just keep on doing it the way it’s always been done.”

“That’s ridiculous. You can’t just go around stunning creatures every time you need to help them.” Hermione looked pretty outraged and he couldn't blame her; the practise had bothered him for a long time but it was the only way they could safely check on the dragons or transport them. “And how have you ever any hope of building better relationships between dragons and humans if you're always having to fire at them.”

“I agree with you love and I’ve tried to put my case across many times but we need a proper alternative before we can get people to stop doing it. To be honest I think I took it too easy on my dragon and that’s why she got so out of control. I hate doing it and probably didn’t keep it up as much as I should have. She was absolutely raging but I hope she knew in the end we were doing it for her own good. She was always going up against another female in Romania and it was only a matter of time before she got seriously hurt. I thought when we landed she wouldn’t do any real damage, not when she realised we were letting her go.” 

“Is that why you were talking to her?” Hermione asked.

“Yeah, I’m convinced they can understand us somehow.”

“I’m sure they can.” Hermione said, looking thoughtful as she took a big bite of her sandwich.

“While we’re on the subject,” Charlie started, “What in Merlin’s name were you doing out in the field? I can’t believe Delta let you through.”

Hermione grinned at him, “Owain convinced her to let me through.”

Charlie was about to take another bite of his sandwich but paused in surprise, “Owain? Owain took you through?”

“Yes, and don’t go getting mad at him, or at Delta. I was completely fine and I’d have been lost if it wasn’t for them letting me come onto the reserve.” 

“I’m not mad.” Charlie said honestly, “I’d have probably done the same myself, I’m just shocked, and especially at Owain...he doesn’t often push the rules like that.” 

“Well, I’m glad he did. Apart from the fact I was able to see you were okay seeing the whole thing was fascinating. I’m still sure it can be improved upon though, Muggles are able to tranquilize large animals and I know they don’t have to take magic into account but still…” she trailed off and Charlie could see her mind ticking over as she considered the possibilities. 

He finished the rest of his sandwich and reached for the salve, applying it himself while Hermione distractedly finished off her sandwich. He had begun to clear up the plates before she spoke again. The clattering must have brought her to.

“How do people go about setting up a research department?” she said.

“Why? Fancy a change do you?” Charlie replied, smiling as he could see her serious expression, she was deep within her own thoughts. He knew she was wasted at the Ministry, he was waiting for her to realise it herself.

“Maybe...it’s a possibility.” She muttered a little under her breath before suddenly exclaiming, “I need a quill!” And she darted out of the room.

Charlie followed her to the study. The room was muted with heavy curtains drawn but she had brought the lights to life as she entered. She was still in her dressing gown, long legs curled beneath her, wild hair pointing every which way as she went searching through desk drawers. He had a feeling this could occupy her for a few hours.

“Listen treasure, I’m going to nip over to the reserve.” 

Hermione looked up at him, focus off her hunt for a quill and parchment. “Now?” she said.

“Looks like you might be busy here for a while.” Charlie said, walking over to the front of the old-fashioned desk. “I’m going to take a few days off work but there’s some stuff I need to sort out first. Tie up a few loose ends before I keep you pinned to that bed.”

Hermione gave him a mischievous look, “Maybe I could take Monday off? Although what makes you think you’ll be doing the pinning?” 

She came over to him, stood up on tiptoes and kissed him. Had he not had other things on his mind Charlie would have seriously thought about laying her across the huge mahogany desk and undoing that tiny robe of hers.

“You take Monday off, I’m more than happy to be pinned under you...and we will be returning to this desk.” Charlie smiled as her brown eyes warmed and her laughter filled the room. “I’ll see you later treasure.”

~~~

The last 24hrs had been a whirlwind and Charlie couldn’t quite believe he was stood where he was. He thought of Hermione’s cheerful laughter as he left her earlier, this was the right thing to do. Once this was done he could lock himself away with his witch and forget the outside world existed for a few days.

He pushed the doorbell, staring grimly at the little strip of paper next the button that said Ronald Weasley.

After Hermione had buried herself behind the desk to carry on looking into research grants, Charlie had apparated back to the dragon reserve and checked everything out. He wrote out a report, had a flyover to the check on the dragons and told them he’d be having a few days off to recover from the journey. Nobody questioned him but it wasn’t really to do with the journey, he needed to get his personal life in order.

There was no response at the flat. Charlie pushed the button again and waited. He hadn’t planned what to say; he thought it would be best to just say how he felt. Now though he was starting to feel a little panicky, maybe he should have done this somewhere neutral, or brought someone with him...like Bill, he was always knew the right thing to say. Instead he was charging head first on instinct, like always. 

There was still no answer and he was left staring at the brilliant red, wooden door. He sighed; maybe this wasn’t the right time.

He started to make his way down the stone steps onto the pavement when he heard his name.

“Charlie! Is that you?” Ron’s voice carried easily down the street and Charlie turned to see his younger brother’s gangly form and cheerful face coming towards him. As he reached him Ron pulled him into a hug.

“Hiya, didn’t expect to see you here! Woah, check out that beard. Nice.” Ron pulled at the new beard grinning. “You must have just got back, how you doing?” Ron’s voice was warm and familiar. Charlie fought to put an easy smile on his face.

“Needed to have a chat with you actually. Can I come in?”

He saw Ron’s eyebrows furrow in confusion, “Yeah of course, is everything alright?” He paled a little, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, good actually. I just need to talk to you.”

“What about?” Ron said still looking worried.

“Look Ron, can we just go inside?” Charlie asked again.

“Charlie, you’re freaking me out, you never pop by for a chat. Just tell me what the bloody hell is going on!” Ron voice was breaking. “Is someone sick? Are you ill?”

Charlie sighed, ever since he was little Ron had been like this, always leaping to conclusions and fearing the worst. He really wanted to do this inside, he had no idea how Ron would react. He looked back up to the door.

“Charlie!” Ron’s voice pulled his head back round. He was looking at Charlie pleadingly. 

“Ron, I don’t really know where to start.” Charlie sat down on the step, thinking it would seem less confrontational.

“Oh Merlin.” Ron’s voice wavered, “you are sick, you can barely stand.” 

“What? No.” Charlie said, looking up at Ron, “No one is sick you daft git, will you just sit down?”

Ron sat down immediately and Charlie was suddenly unsure what to say, what were the right words for this? It was silent for longer than was probably appropriate.

Then at the same time they both spoke.

“I’m in love with Hermione.” Charlie said, loud and clear.

“My arse is getting cold.” Ron spoke over him.

“What?” They both said again except Charlie’s voice held amusement and Ron’s held outrage.

Ron looked over at Charlie, cool blue eyes narrowing, “What did you just say?” 

“I’m in love with Hermione.” Charlie repeated, he didn’t allow his voice to falter but Ron was looking at him like he’d transformed into a blast-ended skrewt. “Hermione Granger.” Charlie added unnecessarily.  

“Yeah, I gathered that!” Ron exploded, his face was turning red. “Which other fucking Hermione could it be?! You’re in love with...?” His voice held disbelief. “What do you mean in love, like you fancy her or what? Hang on, are you together?”

“We’re together.” Charlie tried to keep his voice calm.  He didn’t say anymore thinking Ron would have more to throw at him before he was ready to hear any explanations.

Ron stood up, and started pacing in front of him.

“Hermione? Unbelievable. I can’t believe it...my own brother and...for how long?” Ron shouted at him so wound up that Charlie decided to stand with him. He was glad the street was empty although he was sure he saw a curtain twitch from inside Ron’s building.

“A few weeks. I wanted to be sure that it was what I thought it was before I told you.”

“So you’ve kissed her?” Ron was puce. Charlie was getting a bit worried about his blood pressure.

Charlie nodded.

“She...she likes you too?” He sputtered, he didn’t seem to need an answer, he was mostly talking to himself. “Well, she must! Kissed! Kissed her, you’ve been snogging Hermione. My Hermione.”

Charlie decided to let that one go.

 And…” Ron shut his eyes briefly and swallowed, “you’ve done...other stuff, you’ve done more, more than the kissing?” 

Charlie nodded again. Godric, this was awful. He never thought he’d be admitting to his youngest brother that he was shagging his ex-girlfriend. He fixed the image of Hermione in his mind, knowing she was waiting for him when this was over.

He felt his own ears getting hot. Ron glared at him, simmering with rage. Charlie saw it, the moment Ron decided to hit him. He had never hidden anything well and it was obvious what he wanted to do.

Charlie let him. Ron’s fist flew out quickly and caught Charlie right across the cheek. He didn’t try to stop him, Ron always blew up quickly but once he’d let it all out he’d be alright. His face bloody well hurt though. Charlie stepped back not wanting anymore punches landed on him, one was all he’d take before hitting Ron back.

“Fuck!” Ron screamed out into the open air, clutching his hand. “Why didn’t you stop me you tit?” 

“Stop you?” Charlie was confused. “Why would I stop you? I thought you’d feel better if you hit me.”

“Yeah, I wanted to hit you but I thought you’d stop me. Would have just been a scuffle. Now I’ve battered my hand.” Ron swore again. “Get inside you wanker, I need some ice.”

Charlie followed him inside the flat; he could feel his eye starting to close up as his face swelled. His cheek felt hot and slightly numb. There would be no hiding where he’d been now.

He followed Ron though the flat into the kitchen where he was already rustling around for a tea towel. The flat was surprisingly cosy, from what he could see out of one eye anyway. Family pictures were everywhere alongside things mum had obviously given him, he could see a particularly vivid tea cosy knitted in Chudley Cannon colours. 

“Shit, no ice. Can you do a healing charm?” Ron muttered.

“On your hand? Nah, it’ll just be swollen. Didn’t keep your thumb inside your fist did you?” 

Ron shook his head, “‘Course not, first thing you taught me.”

“Right. Cooling charm might help.” Charlie drew out his wand and held Ron’s hand, speaking the spell they used to cool down burns on the reserve. Ron breathed out in relief.

“Thanks.” Ron muttered sullenly. “So, what have you got to say for yourself then?”

“Ron, is there really anything I could say that would make this better?” Charlie said. He was tired, and sore, and he really just wanted to go home.

“I dunno.” Ron said, “you could try.”

“Yeah, alright.” Charlie sat down in the small kitchen. “I thought it was best to just come out with it like that. Let you know how serious I am about her. Sorry if that shocked you but there’s no point hiding how I feel. I don’t wanna go on about her too much, you already know how great she is.” 

Ron was leaning against the kitchen counter glaring at him. “Yeah, **I** do know how great she is because **I** was in love with her for fucking years.” Charlie winced, Ron carried on, “I knew this would happen soon, didn’t expect she’d be single forever...didn’t expect it would be my brother swooping in though.”

“Ah c’mon Ron...I’ve not swooped, you make it sound like I planned it out.”

Ron still glared at him. Charlie took a deep breath.

“I’m your brother, I would never plan to hurt you like that. Doesn’t it tell you how crazy I am about her than I took the risk? I’m moving back here...properly, for her.”

Ron looked surprised, his colour was returning to a normal shade now but he still cradled his hand. 

“Have you always liked her?” Ron asked voice hoarse.

“Not like I do now. To be honest I never really thought of her that way until you two split up. It never occurred to me to look at her that way, and then last Christmas, I dunno, I guess I just started looking. And then moving into Grimmauld, I couldn’t help but see how bloody amazing she is, and everything felt different between us.” Ron snorted but Charlie carried on, “I know this isn’t easy and I know what you must be thinking; of all the girls for me to fall for right, why did it have to be her?”

“Why did it have to be her?” Ron repeated.

“She’s the one.” Charlie said simply.

Ron looked at him for a long hard moment then he nearly smiled. “Can I be there when you tell Mum?”


End file.
